High Wind, Idaho Palouse
- When
- April 24, 8:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Idaho Palouse forecast zone
- Measured
- 75 kt (86 mph)
- Property damage
- $350,000
- Coordinates
- 47.017, -116.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Idaho, April 24, 1996
High winds gusting upto 75 miles an hour ripped through Southeastern Idaho. Damage occured in several communities.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $380,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOI wrote it up.
High winds gusting upto 75 miles an hour ripped through Southeastern Idaho. Damage occured in several communities. The most amount of damage occured in Jefferson county where winds were sustained above 45 miles an hour for four hours with higher gusts. Insurance companies estimated damage at over $250,000. Several power lines and trees were downed. Power line damage was estimated at $90,000. Blowing dust from 68 mph winds closed I-15 between Idaho Falls and Roberts. Other parts of I-15 were closed for over 7 hours. State Highway 33 was also closed for three hours. In Madison County, shingles were blown off of several houses, roofs and sheds were damaged and several trees were toppled. In Butte and Fremont counties trees and power lines were downed. In the Smith Park community irrigation well lines were mangled, roofs were damaged and trees were toppled. St. Maries suffered a power outage due to trees downed on top of power lines. In Lemhi county, winds were sustained at 40 to 45 miles an hour and gusted to 60 miles an whour uprooting several trees.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Orofino / Grangeville Region
- When
- April 24, 8:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Orofino / Grangeville Region forecast zone
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 46.259, -115.562 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Eastern Lemhi County
- When
- April 24, 8:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Eastern Lemhi County forecast zone
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 44.943, -113.933 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in South Dakota, April 24 to 25, 1996
- Flood in Idaho, April 24 to 26, 1996
- High Wind in Utah, April 24, 1996
- High Wind in Wyoming, April 24 to 25, 1996
- High Wind in Wyoming, April 24, 1996
- High Wind in South Dakota, April 24, 1996
- High Wind in Colorado, April 24 to 25, 1996
- High Wind in Nebraska, April 24, 1996
- High Wind in Colorado, April 24 to 25, 1996
- High Wind in Montana, April 24, 1996
- Debris Flow in Oregon, April 24 to 26, 1996
- Flood in Vermont, April 24, 1996
More
Every storm in Idaho in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, April 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5544654, 5544655, 5544656.