Funnel Cloud, Blaine
- When
- May 21, 11:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
- Where
- Blaine County, Sun Vly to Ketchum
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 43.700, -114.350
A funnel cloud around noon at Sun Valley was photographed.
Funnel Cloud in Idaho, May 21, 2015
A funnel cloud around noon at Sun Valley was photographed.
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
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 happened
The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.
A funnel cloud around noon at Sun Valley was photographed.
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 May 21, 9:08 AM MST, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 9:08 AM MST, 1 hour 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 1008 AM MDT THU MAY 21 2015 .UPDATE... MINOR UPDATE TO CLOUD COVER FOR THIS AFTERNOON BASED ON SATELLITE TRENDS THIS MORNING. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON MAINLY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHLANDS. SOME STORMS MAY STRAY INTO THE MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE PLAIN. VALLE && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 156 AM MDT THU MAY 21 2015/ DISCUSSION...WV IMAGERY THIS MORNING SHOWS UPPER LOW OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WITH SOUTHERLY DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE REGION. MODELS CONTINUE WITH THE THEME OF WET CONDITIONS THROUGH THE COMING WEEK AS A SERIES OF UPPER LOWS ROTATE THROUGH THE WEST WITH CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON/EVENING AS LAPSE RATES BECOME LESS STABLE. THE UPPER LOW IS EXPECTED TO TRACK EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA BY FRIDAY NIGHT THEN LIFTING OVER THE UTAH WASATCH RANGE BY MID-DAY SATURDAY. THE LOW POSITION FAVORS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY PRECIP OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN HIGHLANDS AND IS MODELED WELL BY THE GFS AND NAM. ECMWF PLACES THE HEAVIEST PRECIP A BIT FURTHER TO THE SOUTH...BUT STILL CLIPS THE BEAR LAKE AREA. GFS PLACEMENT OF HEAVIEST PRECIP IS BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z SATURDAY BETWEEN BEAR LAKE AND POCATELLO WITH 6-HOUR QPF OF NEARLY 0.75 INCHES. GFS AND ECMWF ARE AT ODDS WITH THE TRACK OF ANOTHER UPPER LOW DROPPING INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON MONDAY MORNING. GFS IS NOW RETROGRADING THE LOW INTO THE COASTAL WATERS WHILE THE ECMWF PROGRESSES IT SLOWLY ACROSS NORTHERN IDAHO WEDNESDAY. HINSBERGER AVIATION...ANOTHER UPPER LOW DROPPING INTO CNTRAL CA WILL MAINTAIN THE THREAT OF SCT SHOWERS/TSTMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. OVERALL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN VFR...WITH BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CIGS IN HEAVIER SHOWERS. HEDGES FIRE WEATHER...ANOTHER UPPER LOW DROPPING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THIS PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO REPEAT WELL INTO NEXT WEEK. HEDGES && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
The radar
The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:58 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Texas, May 21, 2015
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 21, 2015
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Texas, May 21, 2015
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 21, 2015
- Hail in Florida, May 21, 2015
- Hail and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 21, 2015
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Washington, May 21, 2015
- Winter Weather in Colorado, May 21 to 22, 2015
- Flash Flooding in Texas, May 21, 2015
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 21, 2015
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, May 21, 2015
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, May 21, 2015
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 2015
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: 581771.