Alert archive / Idaho / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2020

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Pocatello, ID

August 25, 2020Bannock County, Bingham County, Power County, Idaho

NWS Pocatello, ID issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 25, 2020, 4:37 PM MDT for Bannock County, Bingham County, Power County, Idaho. It was in force for 23 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 25, 2020, 4:37 PM MDT (22:37 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 2020, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Pocatello, ID
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
0.75 in
Wind
60.0 mph

Counties Bannock County, ID, Bingham County, ID, Power County, ID

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:35 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 311 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 2020-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 2020-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2294 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 25, 2:18 PM MDT, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 25, 2:18 PM MDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
218 PM MDT Tue Aug 25 2020

.DISCUSSION...
An upper-level shortwave moving through the region continues to
serve as the catalyst, along with afternoon heating, for a round of
showers and thunderstorms later this afternoon and evening. Hazy
conditions from wildfires across the western U.S. did inhibit
surface heating a bit this morning but afternoon visible satellite
imagery is starting to shows some breaks and this is where we may
see sufficient destabilization for tstms later today. SPC maintains
a marginal risk for severe weather today with the primary threat
being gusty winds. Given the dry conditions over the last few weeks,
lightning strikes will be a huge concern for potential wildfire
ignition as well thusly red flag warnings remain in place across all
of eastern Idaho. Convective activity should begin to diminish as
the evening progresses with another round of showers and
thunderstorms possible again Wednesday. Coverage likely will not be
as great however. Higher elevation PoPs linger into Thursday as
well.

Moisture begins to decrease a bit Friday and into the weekend with
PoPs generally isolated in nature and focused across the eastern
Highlands but in all likelihood most of eastern Idaho will remain
dry. Temperatures today and through the first half of the weekend
will run at or just above climatological norms.

Things change as we move into Sunday and early next week as a autumn-
like cold front looks to push through the region on Sunday. A
significant cooldown is expected behind this front with highs Monday
and Tuesday in the upper 60s to lower 70s across the lower
elevations with overnight lows dipping into the 40s, 30s across the
higher elevations. McKaughan

&&

.AVIATION...
Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms will continue into
tomorrow. At the moment, we will carry VCTS or VCSH to account for
this, with short term updates to include showers or thunderstorms
onsite if necessary. Gust winds over 35kts along with a brief
downpour are possible. Hail is less likely, but certainly not out
of the question. Keyes

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Isolated showers and storms continue early this afternoon across
central and eastern Idaho. We are still facing a struggle due to
smoke and/or cloud cover to force scattered coverage. The storm
responsible is still moving through and there is some clearing out
there, so we aren't going to drop the RED FLAG WARNING. Gusty
winds over 40mph are possible along with brief heavy rain.
Stronger storms could produce gusts near 60mph and/or hail.
Heading into Wednesday, more showers and storms are expected, with
similar risks. Coverage looks to be a little lower vs today (IF
we realize full potential), so at the moment no RED FLAG WARNINGS
are anticipated. We might get close for the central mountains and
the northern end of 410, but certainly nothing with great
confidence at the moment. Thunderstorm coverage thins out even
more Friday with isolated storms mainly over higher elevations.
Attention then turns toward the weekend, when we are still looking
at a major pattern shift for a bit. A large low drops out of
Canada, dragging a cold front through Sunday along with
temperatures dropping to 5-15 degrees BELOW AVERAGE behind it.
Stronger winds are likely Saturday with MAYBE potential Red Flag
conditions in some areas. We will be watching that as things get
closer. Keyes

&&

.AIR STAGNATION...
Air quality remains variable this week as southwest flow aloft
maintains smoke trajectory from CA, NV and OR. Thunderstorm
activity today through Thursday could provide some cleansing/wash
out of the atmosphere, but those effects would likely be localized,
and could fill back in depending on overnight inversion set up.
There is no expectation of widespread wholesale improvement until
upper trough dives into the region over the weekend, turning upper
flow northwest.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for IDZ410-411-413-
422-425-427-475-476.

&&

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 25, 4:01 PM MDT, 36 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Aug 25, 4:02 PM MDT, 35 minutes before
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Local storm report, Aug 25, 4:03 PM MDT, 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
403 PM MDT TUE AUG 25 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0345 PM     TSTM WND GST     25 ESE MALTA            42.17N 112.92W
08/25/2020  M56 MPH          ONEIDA             ID   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            ITD SWEETZER SUMMIT - OBSERVATION

&&

VPRESTON
Local storm report, Aug 25, 4:07 PM MDT, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
407 PM MDT TUE AUG 25 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0339 PM     TSTM WND GST     30 SE MALTA             42.00N 112.96W
08/25/2020  M49 MPH          ONEIDA             ID   OTHER FEDERAL

            USFS RAWS - MOBURG CANYON

&&

VPRESTON
Local storm report, Aug 25, 4:07 PM MDT, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
407 PM MDT TUE AUG 25 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0339 PM     TSTM WND GST     27 SE MALTA             42.00N 112.96W
08/25/2020  M49 MPH          ONEIDA             ID   OTHER FEDERAL

            USFS RAWS - MOBURG CANYON

&&

VPRESTON
Special weather statement, Aug 25, 4:23 PM MDT, 14 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
423 PM MDT Tue Aug 25 2020

IDZ054-055-252245-
Eastern Magic Valley ID-Lower Snake River Plain ID-
423 PM MDT Tue Aug 25 2020

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN BLAINE...
NORTHWESTERN BANNOCK...NORTHERN POWER AND SOUTHWESTERN BINGHAM
COUNTIES UNTIL 445 PM MDT...

At 421 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Neeley, moving east at 40 mph.

Half inch hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this
storm.

Locations impacted include...
American Falls Reservoir, Aberdeen, Sterling and Pilar Butte.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If on or near American Falls Reservoir, Move to safe shelter now! Do
not be caught on or near the water. Gusty winds and choppy waves are
likely.

&&

LAT...LON 4266 11310 4289 11334 4318 11284 4295 11256
TIME...MOT...LOC 2221Z 256DEG 60KT 4278 11299

ND

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pocatello, ID issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 7:00 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCassia75 min
Aug 24, 8:18 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCassia, Power72 min
Aug 24, 9:17 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHPower58 min
Aug 25, 3:28 AM MDTRed Flag WarningPIHBannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonneville and 19 more18 hr
Aug 25, 2:25 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCassia50 min
Aug 25, 3:10 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCassia50 min
Aug 25, 3:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBlaine, Cassia, Oneida, Power40 min
Aug 25, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBannock, Blaine, Cassia, Franklin, Oneida, Power50 min
Aug 25, 3:59 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBlaine46 min
Aug 25, 4:02 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHLincoln43 min
Aug 25, 4:23 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHPower22 min
Aug 25, 4:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBannock, Bingham, Blaine, Bonneville, Butte, Custer and 4 more38 min
Aug 25, 4:41 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBannock49 min
Aug 25, 4:56 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBingham49 min
Aug 25, 5:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBannock, Bingham, Blaine, Bonneville, Butte, Jefferson and 2 more51 min
Aug 25, 5:22 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBingham38 min
Aug 25, 5:26 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCaribou34 min
Aug 25, 5:53 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHMinidoka52 min
Aug 25, 5:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBingham, Bonneville, Clark, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison and 1 more36 min
Aug 25, 5:58 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHClark, Jefferson, Madison47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Idaho, 2020Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2020

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.