A dry microburst caused wind gusts up to 65 mph with damage near Burley and Paul.
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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 PIH wrote it up.
A dry microburst caused wind gusts up to 65 mph with damage near Burley and Paul.
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 May 18, 1:28 PM MST, 6 hours 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 228 PM MDT MON MAY 18 2009 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. CONVECTIVE CLOUDS STARTING TO BUILD ACROSS HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN EASTERN IDAHO PER SAT IMAGERY BUT NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED THIS EVENING. DEEPER MOISTURE ROTATING AROUND HIGH HAS PUSHED INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA AND IS FCST TO MAKE IT INTO EASTERN IDAHO BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. ALONG WITH APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH AND VERY WARM LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURES...AFTERNOON SHOULD BE UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA. GIVEN INVERTED-V PROFILE EXPECT MAIN THREAT TO BE STRONG GUSTY WINDS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH LATE EVENING WITH POTENTIAL FOR BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS BEHIND IT. CAVEAT WILL BE OVERNIGHT TIMING FOR STRONGEST WINDS. NAM PRODUCES 35KT WINDS AT 30FT AGL COUPLED WITH 45KT 700MB JET SO CURRENT WIND GRIDS MAY BE ON THE LOW SIDE. MUCH DRIER AIR WORKS INTO REGION BEHIND FRONT BUT AREA STILL UNDER INFLUENCE OF UPPER TROUGH SO KEPT LOW POPS INTO WEDNESDAY FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THIS MATCHES UP WELL WITH NEIGHBORS BUT CONFIDENCE IS LOW GIVEN MOISTURE PROFILES ON THE MODELS. BREEZY WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE SNAKE PLAIN BUT UPPER SUPPORT RAPIDLY DWINDLES THROUGH THE DAY AS SURFACE GRADIENT RELAXES. THUS EXPECT STRONGEST WINDS PROBABLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. UPPER HIGH SHOWING SIGNS OF REDEVELOPING OVER 4-CORNERS REGION INTO THURSDAY THOUGH FLOW STILL PREDOMINATELY FROM THE WEST FOR EASTERN IDAHO. WILL HAVE TO WATCH MOISTURE OVER 4-CORNERS REGION AS BOTH NAM AND GFS TRY TO PUSH IT BACK TOWARD EASTERN IDAHO. BOTH MODELS KEEP THE MOISTURE SOUTH OF STATE LINE BUT A SLIGHT NORTHWARD SHIFT IN THE FLOW MAY NECESSITATE ADDING LIGHT POPS ALONG UTAH BORDER FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON. DMH .LONG TERM...THU NIGHT THROUGH NEXT MON NIGHT. STILL EXPECTING LONG WAVE TROUGHING AT COAST BY END OF PERIOD. UNTIL THEN...WEAK LONG WAVE PATTERN MEANS QUITE A BIT OF VARIABILITY FROM RUN TO RUN AND COMPARING ECMWF AND GFS. NCEP HAS PEGGED THE GFS AS AN OVERLY WET OUTLIER..THUS HAVE MADE AFTERNOON HIGHS WARMER...OVERNIGHT LOWS SLIGHTLY COLDER FOR BIASES. A NUMBER OF PERIODS SEEM TO HAVE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE GFS...THAT OF CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK OVERFORECAST QPF. MOST OF THE HEAVY PRECIPITATION IS OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST CORNER...THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION COMES FROM WITH THE SOUTHWESTERLY JET OVER THE WEST. ALL THE SOUTHERLY FLOW KEEPS TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL. PRECIPITATION CHANCES INCREASE THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE CONTINUATION OF THE COASTAL LONGWAVE TROUGH. WINDS PICK UP WITH THE STRENGTHENING OF THIS TROUGH AS WELL...BUT NO SIGNIFICANT WIND OR SHORTWAVE EXPECTED DURING THIS TIME. MESSICK && .AVIATION...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE PRODUCING CLEAR SKIES ALTHOUGH SOME CU FORMING ON VISIBILE SATELLITE SOUTH OF KBYI WILL REQUIRE MONITORING...BUT EXPECT ONLY AN ISOLATED -TSRA AT WORST. RIDGE BREAKS DOWN BY THE EARLY MORNING ON TUE WITH SOME MID-LEVEL CEILINGS...WHICH CLEAR AFTER ABOUT 4 TO 5 HOURS OF CEILING. FOR TUE AFTERNOON...THREAT OF -TSRA SHOULD DEVELOP WITH APPROACHING FRONT AND GROWING INSTABILITY. WIND WILL ALSO PICK UP WITH 15G25 POSSIBLE IN THE KIDA VICINITY. MESSICK && .HYDROLOGY...SOME UNCERTAINTY REMAINS FOR RIVER LEVELS IN EASTERN IDAHO. VERY WARM TEMPS HAVE ALLOWED SNOW MELT TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA BUT THE SNOW LINE IS AT FAIRLY HIGH ELEVATIONS ACROSS THE REGION. FURTHER COMPLICATING MATTERS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE GROWING SEASON...WHICH MEANS DRAW DOWN OF THE RIVERS TO FILL LOCAL RESERVOIRS AND CANAL SYSTEMS. THERE IS LOW CONFIDENCE OF THE HENRYS FORK RIVER EXCEEDING FLOOD STAGE BASED ON LATEST FLOWS AND LATEST FORECAST BEARS THIS OUT. HAVE CONTINUED WITH RIVER STATEMENT BUT WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR. DMH/TL && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 514 AM MDT MON MAY 18 2009 IDZ017>025-031-032-191115- EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS- UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN- SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS- CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION- BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI- 514 AM MDT MON MAY 18 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING NEAR RECORD WARMTH ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS MOISTURE PACIFIC MOISTURE PUSHES INTO THE AREA. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PICK UP TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND REMAIN ELEVATED INTO WEDNESDAY...PARTIUCLARLY IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. DRIER WEATHER RETURNS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...HOWEVER ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN FRIDAY THROUGH MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. WARM TEMPERATURES...EVEN OVERNIGHT...WILL HELP TO SPEED UP SNOWMELT ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THIS WILL LEAD TO HIGHER WATER LEVELS ON SOME WATERWAYS. THE AREA OF MOST CONCERN IS THE HENRYS FORK RIVER AROUND ST ANTHONY AND REXBURG. THE LATEST FORECASTS HAVE THE RIVER RISING ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AT REXBURG ON WEDNESDAY...WHERE IT MAY REMAIN FOR A FEW DAYS. PLEASE STAY ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER AND RIVER FORECASTS...ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE GETTING AN EARLY START ON THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WE ASK TRAINED SPOTTERS AND CITIZENS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. THESE CONDITIONS MAY INCLUDE HAIL...TORNADOES...STRONG WIND...DUST STORMS...SNOWFALL... EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES...FREEZING RAIN OR HEAVY RAIN...DENSE FOG...AND FLOODING OR ICE JAMS. INFORMATION ABOUT THESE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS SHOULD BE CALLED INTO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER HOTLINE...OR 208-233-0834.
The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:58 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were downed in Burley by a microburst wind with several trees on houses and extensive shingle damage reported. Light fixtures were shattered on several homes.
Microburst caused damage near Paul. Several large trees taken down, some on top of automobiles. Sheds were moved off foundations as well.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 2009
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: 173215, 173217.