Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 14, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 14, 2002
Start: 2002-07-14T15:30
End: 2002-07-14T18:40
Location: Idaho

July 14, 2002 · NWS BOI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

A combination of monsoonal moisture and record-breaking heat fed afternoon thunderstorms that broke out across Southeast Oregon and Southwest Idaho. Clusters of thunderstorms marched northeastward from Malheur County, Oregon and Owyhee County, Idaho, through the Treasure Valley, Boise Foothills and Magic Valley, and then exited the county warning area. Numerous power lines were down in Payette County. A skylight was blown out of a home in southeast Boise and three inch diameter tree limbs were downed in Twin Falls County. Wind gusts to 53 knots were recorded at Lucky Peak RAWS.

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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 14, 2:45 PM MST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 2:45 PM MST, 45 minutes before

SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
345 PM MDT SUN JUL 14 2002

STRONG UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE CENTER SOUTHERN UT AND S/WV TROUGH
OVER NORTHERN CA ON WATER VAPOR PICTURES ARE COMBINING TO CHANNEL
MONSOONAL MOISTURE INTO CWFA THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. GOES SOUNDER
SHOWING PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES JUST OVER 1 INCH SOUTHEAST ORE/
SOUTHWEST ID WITH LIS -2 TO -4. S/WV SUPPLYING NEEDED LIFT WITH
SOME MID-LEVEL SHEAR FOR THUNDERSTORMS ALREADY SOUTHEAST ORE LIFTING
NORTH. SPOTTER CALLS SHOWING HIGH-BASED WITH SOME WINDS, NONE YET
SEVERE AS OF 21Z. THESE GUSTY THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE THIS EVENING
INTO NORTHERN ZONES. AREA OF CONCERN IS CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT EAST
CENTRAL NV LIFTING NORTH INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ID LATER TONIGHT. UPPER
TROUGH CONTINUES NORTHEAST MON/TUE WITH SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW REMAINING
OVER CWFA. MONSOONAL MOISTURE SHIFTS INTO EASTERN ID WITH SOME
DRYING SOUTHEAST ORE ZONES MON/TUE. THIS ALSO ALLOWS SOME SLIGHT
COOLING WITH TEMPS REMAINING JUST ABOVE SEASONAL LEVELS.

UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE REMAINS OVER ROCKIES WITH SHALLOW
TROUGH IN GULF OF ALASKA INTO MIDWEEK. PROGRESSIVE S/WVS MOVE ALONG
CANADIAN BORDER WITH LITTLE AFFECT TO CWFA. SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER
CWFA WITH MONSOONAL MOISTURE REMAINING JUST TO THE EAST IN EASTERN
ID, THOUGH THIS MOISTURE WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED.  MRF TRIES TO
SHIFT EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA TROUGH CLOSER TO NORTHWEST COAST SAT
/SUN THOUGH 12Z AVN EXTENSION NOT AS DEEP WITH TROUGH. WILL KEEP DRY
WEATHER IN EXTENDED FORECAST WITH TEMPS REMAINING NEAR TO SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL THU-SUN. PARKER

.BOI...NONE.

The radar

The Boise radar (KCBX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Payette

When: July 14, 3:30 PM MST to 3:45 PM MST
Where: Payette County, Fruitland
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.017, -116.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Canyon

When: July 14, 4:00 PM MST to 4:15 PM MST
Where: Canyon County, 5 mi NW of Parma
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.833, -117.017

Thunderstorm Wind, Ada

When: July 14, 4:00 PM MST to 4:15 PM MST
Where: Ada County, Boise
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.617, -116.217

Thunderstorm Wind, Boise

When: July 14, 4:30 PM MST to 4:45 PM MST
Where: Boise County, 17 mi SSE of Idaho City
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.600, -115.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Twin Falls

When: July 14, 6:25 PM MST to 6:40 PM MST
Where: Twin Falls County, 3 mi S of Rogerson
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.167, -114.583

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, July 2002

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: 5309829, 5309830, 5309831, 5309832, 5309833.