Name: Hail in Idaho, July 4, 2004
Start: 2004-07-04T19:43
End: 2004-07-04T19:49
Location: Idaho

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: 1

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 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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 2:20 PM MST, 5 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 2:20 PM MST, 5 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
320 PM MDT SUN JUL 4 2004

.DISCUSSION...
REMNANTS OF SURFACE FRONT SHIFTING SOUTH FROM SODA SPRINGS TO MALTA
LINE WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER IT. FRONT SHOULD
SLIP SOUTH OF STATE NEXT TWO HOURS. H3 80KT JET CORE PROPAGATING
FROM WASHINGTON STATE OVER CENTRAL IDAHO THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT VORTICITY MAX OVER
SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA THAT WILL SLIDE ROUGHLY THROUGH ISLAND
PARK AREA BY MONDAY MORNING. THE JET WILL BRING IN SOME DRYING AND
SUBSIDENCE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON WITH BEST EFFECTS FELT SOUTH OF A
LINE FROM SUN VALLEY TO BLACKFOOT. LIMITED SCOURING OF VALLEY
MOISTURE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS SURFACE LOW PRESSURE
DEVELOPS OVER CENTRAL MOUNTAINS FROM INFLUENCE OF UPPER JET. THIS
SHOULD TIGHTEN SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT AND INCREASE WINDS FROM THE
EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY INTO THE LOWER SNAKE PLAIN. STRENGTH OF WINDS
SHOULD BE 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH...DECREASING TO 5 TO 15
MPH AS EVENING 4TH OF JULY FESTIVITIES APPROACH.

SURFACE LOW THAT FORMS OVER CENTRAL MOUNTAINS PER MESOETA COULD SLIP
INTO THE UPPER VALLEY WITH NORTHERLY H7 WINDS ALOFT FORCING WEAK
CONVERGENCE AROUND ARCO TO IDAHO FALLS. THAT ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION
TO RISK OF EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. HOPEFULLY THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT
SHOULD MOVE FAR ENOUGH EAST BY THEN.

FLAT SHORT WAVE RIDGE BUILDS IN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY FOR A MOSTLY
DRY FORECAST. SOME INSTABILITY LINGERS IN ISLAND PARK AREA. WITH
RESPECT TO LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
THURSDAY...GFS STILL KEEP MOST MOISTURE NORTH OF FORECAST AREA.
HOWEVER...TROUGH EXTENDS WELL SOUTH INTO CALIFORNIA AND FLOW PATTERN
MAY BRING MINOR EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES UP FROM THE SOUTHWEST TO SET
OFF ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS.  OTHERWISE REST OF FORECAST
LOOKS ON TRACK.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNING/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&

SURVICK

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 4, 5:10 AM MST, 14 hours 33 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
610 AM MDT SUN JUL 04 2004

IDZ017>023-031-032-051200-
EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-
SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS-
UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-
SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS-
610 AM MDT SUN JUL 04 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO

.DAY ONE...
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING.  SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY
WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WE ASK ALL TRAINED SPOTTERS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS. THIS WOULD INCLUDE ALL HAIL...WIND AND HEAVY RAIN
REPORTS.  THIS INFORMATION SHOULD BE CALLED INTO THE LOCAL NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER
HOTLINE...OR OTHER STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 4, 2:36 PM MST, 5 hours 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
336 PM MDT SUN JUL 04 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0327 PM     HAIL             N SHELLEY               43.38N 112.12W
07/04/2004  0.88 INCH        BINGHAM            ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NICKEL-SIZE HAIL REPORTED FALLING AT 327 PM.

&&

GEW

Local storm report, Jul 4, 3:22 PM MST, 4 hours 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
422 PM MDT SUN JUL 04 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0354 PM     HAIL             1 W SHELLEY             43.38N 112.14W
07/04/2004  0.75 INCH        BINGHAM            ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            3/4 INCH HAIL REPORTED WEST OF SHELLEY, ID FALLING FROM
            326PM TO 341PM.

0354 PM     HAIL             1 E SHELLEY             43.38N 112.10W
07/04/2004  0.75 INCH        BINGHAM            ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            3/4 INCH HAIL REPORTED EAST OF SHELLEY, ID FALLING FROM
            342PM TO 352PM

0354 PM     HAIL             2 N SHELLEY             43.41N 112.12W
07/04/2004  0.88 INCH        BINGHAM            ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            7/8 INCH HAIL REPORTED AT SHELLEY, ID FALLING FROM 327PM
            TO 334PM AND COVERED GRASSY AREAS 3/4 TO 1 INCH DEEP AND
            FOLLOWED BY VERY HEAVY RAIN.

&&

GEW

Local storm report, Jul 4, 6:26 PM MST, 1 hour 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
726 PM MDT SUN JUL 04 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0715 PM     HAIL             RIGBY                   43.67N 111.92W
07/04/2004  0.25 INCH        JEFFERSON          ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            3 MINUTES OF HAIL STORM. 0.13 INCHES OF WATER IN SHORT
            PERIOD.

&&

PJA

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Teton

When: July 4, 7:43 PM MST to 7:49 PM MST
Where: Teton County, Victor
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.600, -111.117

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, July 2004

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: 5414426.