A cluster of thunderstorms moved rapidly north-northwestward through the Idaho panhandle on the afternoon of May 19. These storms generally produced wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, though local downburst winds caused localized damage in the central panhandle.
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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 episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
A cluster of thunderstorms moved rapidly north-northwestward through the Idaho panhandle on the afternoon of May 19. These storms generally produced wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, though local downburst winds caused localized damage in the central panhandle.
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 May 19, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 PM PDT SUN MAY 19 2002 OFFSHORE LOW KEEPS MOIST AND UNSTABLE SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THEREFORE TONIGHT HAS THE HIGHEST POPS OF THE FORECAST AND CALLS FOR THUNDERSTORMS AS SOME SHORT TERM MODELS PROG CAPE VALUES AS HIGH AS 1500 J/KG OVER SOME OF THE MOUNTAIN ZONES. STILL SOME RESIDUAL INSTABILITY LINGERING IN THE AREA MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...ENOUGH TO KEEP SOME MENTION OF PRECIP IN THE FORECAST AND STILL INCLUDE A SMALL MENTION OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS WELL. APPEARS THE OFFSHORE LOW FALLS APART AS IT MOVES INLAND TUESDAY AND LESSENS THE SYNOPTIC FORCING AND MOISTURE PUSH FROM THE SOUTH SO HAVE GONE WITH LOW SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH NO MENTION OF PRECIP FOR TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. .EXTENDED...SHORTWAVE RIDGE TO BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ON THURSDAY WHICH WILL KEEP THE FORECAST AREA DRY. BEYOND THAT MODELS ARE INCONSISTENT IN THE MEDIUM RANGE...BUT LOOKING AT THE ENSEMBLE MEAN SHOWS WEAK ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE REGION. THEREFORE WILL CONTINUE WITH THE MENTION OF A CHANCE OF SHOWERS FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. CC ...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 051/066/044/064/041/061 734322 COE 051/064/045/063/042/060 745322 PUW 050/063/043/063/040/060 734222 LWS 055/068/048/069/045/064 734222 CQV 047/073/044/069/044/066 744422 SPT 048/066/043/062/044/060 745433 WWP 048/064/043/062/040/059 745533 EAT 052/066/044/070/041/069 644111 MWH 053/068/045/068/042/066 633111 .OTX...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Downed trees and power lines were reported. One resident reported windows broken out of his home. Trees were blown down across roadways in some rural parts of Shoshone County.
Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto two cars traveling in opposite directions along Idaho Highway 41 in Rathdrum. Two of the occupants of one vehicle suffered injuries requiring hospitalization.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 2002
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: 5299490, 5299489.