Tornado and Hail in Idaho, May 31, 1997

Name: Tornado and Hail in Idaho, May 31, 1997
Start: 1997-05-31T16:05
End: 1997-05-31T16:12
Location: Idaho

May 31, 1997 · NWS PIH · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Jefferson

When: May 31, 4:05 PM MST
Where: Jefferson County, Terreton to 3 mi N of Terreton
Rating: F1
Path length: 4 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Coordinates: 43.830, -112.500

A F1 Tornado touch down about one mile west of Mud Lake demolishing a shed, damaging a quanset hut, lifting a roof off another shed, and rolling over an irrigation circle line. The tornado moved east toward Mud Lake knocking down trees, large branches and two power poles. In Mud Lake metal siding was stripped off a few buildings and a large portion of a restaurant roof was blown off. An approximate 100 x 50 foot roof was lifted off a building at the Feed Company Shed on the NW corner of town and deposited on two trucks. The tornado continued to move northeast causing damage to sheds, roofs, trees and other structures 1 to 2 miles north of Terreton. Two miles north of Terreton a large roof was lifted off a shed and thrown over 150 feet landing on top of a home. The large funnel associated with the tornado was visible from the NWS in Pocatello at 5:05 pm MDT...a distance of about 65 miles.

Hail, Jefferson

When: May 31, 4:12 PM MST
Where: Jefferson County, 2 mi N of Terreton
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 43.870, -112.430

Hail associated with Terreton tornadic storm

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Idaho, 1997 Warnings in Idaho, May 1997

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: 5603759, 5603760.