A strong cold frontal passage brought strong winds knocking down power poles and lines and causing some power outages.
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 strong cold frontal passage brought strong winds knocking down power poles and lines and causing some power outages.
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 Apr 14, 9:20 AM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 1020 AM MDT TUE APR 14 2015 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. THE MORNING NAM AND ASSOCIATED HI-RES MODELS WERE SHOWING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SNAKE RIVER CONVERGENCE EVENT FROM POCATELLO TO IDAHO FALLS TONIGHT. THUS UPDATED GOING FORECAST TO INCREASE SNOWFALL AND PRECIP POTENTIAL ALONG AND EAST OF THE I-15 CORRIDOR AND ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW. HUSTON MODELS BEGINNING TO COME TO SOME AGREEMENT ON SYSTEM TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WHICH WILL BRING WIND AND SNOW TO SOUTHEAST IDAHO. LATEST 06Z NAM CLOSES OFF NEGATIVE TILT 500 MILLIBAR TROF OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO LATE TONIGHT AND MOVES IT INTO SOUTHWEST WYOMING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE 00Z GFS WAS IN DECENT AGREEMENT NOW ALSO CLOSING OFF UPPER LOW IN SOUTHERN IDAHO AND MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST WYOMING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE EUROPEAN REMAINS MUCH FURTHER SOUTH WITH THE UPPER LOW IN CENTRAL UTAH BY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND ALSO SLOWER WITH MOVEMENT. THE INITIAL PROBLEM WILL BE STRONG WINDS WITH THE COLD FRONT MOVING QUICKLY THROUGH EASTERN IDAHO LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. KEPT WIND WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES IN PLACE WITH MODELS SHOWING SOME 35 MPH SUSTAINED WINDS IN MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE PLAIN AND SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS. EXPECT SNOW TO DEVELOP BEHIND THE COLD FRONT INITIALLY IN CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING THEN FOCUSED ON THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS AND SNAKE RIVER PLAIN OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. FOR NOW CONTINUED WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES IN CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND SNAKE RIVER PLAIN WITH 4 TO 8 INCHES EXPECTED IN IDAHO WASATCH AND CARIBOU HIGHLANDS WHERE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND WINDS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE SOME DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND ESPECIALLY OVERNIGHT TONIGHT ONCE THE SUN SETS. TEMPERATURES WILL TURN SHARPLY COLDER THIS AFTERNOON BEHIND THE COLD FRONT AND REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL WEDNESDAY. EXPECT DRY AND SUNNY CONDITIONS THURSDAY WITH A RETURN TO SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES. GK .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT MONDAY. MODELS CONSISTENT IN DEVELOPING UPPER RIDGING INTO PAC NW THURSDAY NIGHT AS CUTOFF LOW DROPS TO THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. A QUICK MOVING DISTURBANCE WILL CROSS NORTHERN IDAHO AND MONTANA SATURDAY WITH LIMITED SHOWER ACTIVITY IN THE UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. THE MAIN CHANGE TO THE FORECAST IS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY WHERE THE SHARP RIDGE AXIS CLOSE TO THE COAST RESULTS IN MORE NORTHERLY FLOW ALONG THE WYOMING BORDER AND THUS SOME RISK OF LIGHT SHOWERS IN THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS. RS && .AVIATION....MOST NOTABLY FOR PIH AND IDA. KSFX RADAR VAD WINDS SHOWS SOUTH WINDS 40-50 KTS CLOSE TO 2000 FEET OFF THE SURFACE AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. THE NAM12 AND HRRR MODELS HAVE THE TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER MALAD AND BEAR LAKE AREA SHIFTING EAST BY 12Z THIS MORNING. THAT WOULD FAVOR THE CURRENT THREAT OF LLWS ENDING 1 TO 2 HOURS AHEAD OF THE CURRENT TAF TIMING. PASSAGE OF THE FRONT AT KPIH SHOULD BE NEAR 14Z. VERY IMPRESSIVE SURFACE POST FRONTAL PRESSURE GRADIENT TODAY. HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 15/04Z. ALL 3 SNAKE PLAIN TAF SITES ARE INCLUDED. SNOW LEVELS FALL TO VALLEY FLOORS OVERNIGHT WHICH BRINGS SNOW SHOWERS WITH MVFR CEILINGS AT KIDA AND KPIH 15/04-09Z. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING IDZ017-021-022. WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING IDZ020. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT WEDNESDAY ABOVE 5500 FEET FOR THE IDZ023-025. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING IDZ020-021. &&
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Bear Lake County experienced a 90 minute power outage due to high winds knocking down power poles and lines. Rocky Mountain Power customers in Paris, Fish Haven, St. Charles, and Montpelier lost power on the afternoon of the 14th.
Rocky Mountain Power reported winds knocking down a transmission line affecting over 2,400 customers on the afternoon of the 14th. Many were still without power as late as 9 pm MDT. Customers without power resided in Preston, Clifton, Swanlake, Dayton, and Weston.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, April 2015
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: 570769, 570771.