Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 23, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 23, 2002
Start: 2002-07-23T00:52
End: 2002-07-23T01:00
Location: Idaho

July 23, 2002 · NWS MSO · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Strong thunderstorm winds caused damage in and around the Salmon, ID area. Wind gusts to 62 MPH, downed trees and powerlines.

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: 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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

Strong thunderstorm winds caused damage in and around the Salmon, ID area. Wind gusts to 62 MPH, downed trees and powerlines.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 22, 7:25 PM MST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 7:25 PM MST, 5 hours 27 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
825 PM MDT MON JUL 22 2002

.SHORT TERM...NO UPDATES PLANNED. CURRENT FORECAST ON TRACK
WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION CONFINED TO OUR SOUTHERN ZONES. BEST
CHANCE OF OVERNIGHT CONVECTION WILL REMAIN OVER OUR WESTERN ID
ZONES...WHERE VORT LOBE OVER EASTERN OR TRACKS TO THE NORTHEAST
AND SOME INSTABILITY REMAINS. NORTHEAST WINDS HAVE SUBSIDED MOST
AREAS...BUT OVERNIGHT COOLING MAY ALLOW CANYON WINDS TO REDEVELOP.
SO MENTION OF WINDS STILL LOOKS GOOD WITHOUT AN UPDATE. SPC HAS
OUR SOUTHERN ZONES IN SLIGHT RISK AREA FOR ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS
TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. 12/18Z MODELS SUPPORT THIS IDEA WITH
ATMOSPHERE MORE UNSTABLE WITH EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES TRACKING
FROM THE SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST TO TRIGGER STORMS IN SAME AREA
AS TODAY. FELSCH

.LONG TERM...SOME CHANGES IN NEWER MODELS RUNS...PARTICULARLY THE
NEW AVN. UPPER TROUGH AXIS FRIDAY DOES NOT LOOK AS SHARP...LEAVING
MORE BROAD NORTHWEST FLOW...WITH STILL LIMITED MOISTURE. SHORTWAVE
TROUGH IN THIS FLOW AND THE SRN STREAM UPPER JET WILL HAVE SHIFTED
ENOUGH SOUTH AND EAST WITH AN INFLUX OF MORE STABLE AIR. THUS...
THUNDERSTORM CHANCE PROBABLY NOT NEEDED FOR FRIDAY.  OVERNIGHT
FRIDAY AND INTO SATURDAY...THE AVN SUGGESTS SOMETHING CLOSE TO
THE EURO...IN SHOWING A MORE DEFINED UPPER TROUGH AXIS WITH A CLOSED
LOW IN CENTRAL CANADA. EURO IS FURTHER SOUTHWEST TOWARD MONTANA WITH
THIS FEATURE...AND SUBSEQUENTLY HAS LOWER HEIGHTS AND PROGRESSIVELY
COOLER TEMPS IN STORE. MOISTURE STILL LOOKS TO BE CONFINED IN THE
MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN MONTANA FOR THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. MONDAY IS VERY
DIFFERENT...WITH THE MRF MORE QUICKLY SWINGING THIS TROUGH THROUGH
AND BUILDING A RIDGE OVERHEAD...WHILE EXTRAPOLATION OF THE EURO WOULD
KEEP UPPER TROUGH AROUND FOR AWHILE WITH THE RIDGING STAYING OVER
THE PACIFIC. WITH MRF VEERING TOWARD THE EURO OF LATE...WILL LEAN
WITH THE COOLER IDEA.  DICKSON

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB UBB 053/092 053/092 056/089 35000010
     BBBU 054/087 052/085 052/084 052/086 3700100000
FCA BBB 052/087 052/086 053/083 35000010
     BBBU 052/082 051/081 051/080 051/082 3700100000
POL BBB 060/085 060/085 058/082 35000010
     BBBU 056/081 053/080 054/079 054/081 3700001000
MSO BBB 054/089 055/089 056/086 35011110
     BBBU 055/085 052/083 051/082 051/084 3700000000
HMM BBB 056/089 057/088 054/085 35012111
     BBBU 054/085 051/083 049/082 049/084 3710000000
BTM BBB 050/084 051/085 049/084 35122111
     BBBU 050/082 046/079 044/078 044/081 3710000000
ORO BBB 058/096 061/095 063/092 35000000
     BBBU 064/092 060/089 060/088 061/090 3700000000
GRV BBB 056/089 057/090 056/087 35111110
     BBBU 056/086 053/084 051/083 052/085 3700000000
SMN BBB 055/090 056/090 054/086 35122111
     BBBU 055/087 053/085 051/084 052/086 3720000000

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lemhi

When: July 23, 12:52 AM MST
Where: Lemhi County, Salmon
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.167, -113.900

Thunderstorm Wind, Lemhi

When: July 23, 1:00 AM MST
Where: Lemhi County, Salmon
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.167, -113.900

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: 5309192, 5309193.