High Wind, Lewiston Area
- When
- October 22, 9:00 PM PST to October 23, 4:00 AM PST
- Where
- Lewiston Area forecast zone
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.327, -116.750 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Idaho, October 22 to 23, 2001
A strong low pressure system moving across southern British Columbia swept a cold front across the Idaho panhandle from late evening on October 22 through the early morning of October 23. The strongest winds occurred immediately following the frontal passage.
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
- $15,000
- 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 OTX wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system moving across southern British Columbia swept a cold front across the Idaho panhandle from late evening on October 22 through the early morning of October 23. The strongest winds occurred immediately following the frontal passage. The ASOS at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph at 1007 PM PDT. In the Silver Valley of Shoshone County, a 50-foot tall pine tree snapped off near its base around 1100 PM PDT, falling onto and damaging a home near Pinehurst. The Lines Creek RAWS site (7 N Clarkia at elevation 5120 feet) measured a wind gust to 54 mph at 100 AM PDT. Other parts of the panhandle reported wind gusts of 40-50 miles an hour following the frontal passage with another lesser peak in wind speeds during the afternoon of October 23.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 22, 7:10 PM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 7:10 PM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 810 PM PDT MON OCT 22 2001 WILL UPDATE SFP AROUND 9 PM OR SO TO REFRESH SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR EASTERN WASHINGTON...WILL ALSO UPDATE ZONES TO REWORK SOME OF THE POPS FOR TODAY. LATEST 00Z KOTX UPPER AIR PROFILE NOT AT ALL REPRESENTATIVE OF CURRENT COOLER AIRMASS OVER AREA AS WARM FRONTAL ZONE WAS MOVING OVER THE AREA WHEN UPPER AIR RUN WAS TAKEN. THAT WARM CLOUD SHIELD HAS ALREADY BLOWN BY AND IS MOVING THROUGH MONTANA AS OF 02Z. EXPECT THE AIRMASS TO BECOME MORE LIKE THAT OVER KUIL AT 00Z IN WHICH SIGNIFICANT COOLER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA...ENOUGH TO KEEP SHOWERY WORDING IN SOME PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH ZERO POPS IN OTHERS NEAR THE RAIN SHADOW OF THE CASCADES. WINDS SHOULD ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE WITH INCREASING NORTH TO SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO...COURTESY OF THE SURFACE LOW PASSING THROUGH SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA. NO CHANGE TO OUR FORECAST AREA HIGHLIGHTS IN UPDATES BUT WILL UPDATE SFP FOR ERN WASHINGTON TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGE IN ADJACENT OFFICE HIGHTLIGHTS. ...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS... GEG 034/051/028/044/032/047 42-560 COE 036/046/029/043/032/045 551560 PUW 033/049/028/046/033/049 43-440 LWS 041/054/035/050/038/053 44-330 CQV 036/055/027/043/027/049 44-770 SPT 036/045/029/042/028/044 651771 WWP 034/043/029/044/030/044 883582 EAT 040/059/033/048/035/052 301640 MWH 039/059/033/050/034/055 301540 .OTX... WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS. HIGH WIND WARNING LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR WATERVILLE PLATEAU...MOSES LAKE...UPPER BASIN...PALOUSE...AND LEWISTON/CLARKSTON AREA. WIND ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR THE WENATCHEE AND THE SPOKANE/COEUR DALENE AREAS.
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, Lewis and Southern Nez Perce
- When
- October 22, 9:00 PM PST to October 23, 4:00 AM PST
- Where
- Lewis and Southern Nez Perce forecast zone
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.282, -116.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Shoshone/E Kootenai/E Benewah/E Latah
- When
- October 22, 9:00 PM PST to October 23, 4:00 AM PST
- Where
- Shoshone/E Kootenai/E Benewah/E Latah forecast zone
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 47.265, -116.491 (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
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, October 22, 2001
- Flash Flood in Florida, October 22, 2001
- High Wind in Wyoming, October 22 to 23, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Michigan, October 22, 2001
- Dense Fog in Wisconsin, October 22, 2001
- Flooding in Iowa, October 22, 2001
- High Wind in Washington, October 22 to 23, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, October 22 to 23, 2001
- Dense Fog in Wisconsin, October 22, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, October 22, 2001
- Winter Storm in Washington, October 22, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, October 22, 2001
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, October 2001
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5270137, 5270138, 5270139.