A 37 year old woman and her 11 year daughter died in accidents near Fish Haven on Bear Lake. Winds allegedly played a factor in causing flotation devices to drift from shore.
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 37 year old woman and her 11 year daughter died in accidents near Fish Haven on Bear Lake. Winds allegedly played a factor in causing flotation devices to drift from shore. Highest recorded wind speeds at the Bear Lake airport near the time of accident were 29 mph.
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 Aug 3, 12:52 PM MST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 152 PM MDT WED AUG 3 2016 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday. Winds in the Snake River Plain should die down close to sunset with 15 to 25 mph sustained speeds expected through about 6 pm. A Lake Wind Advisory remains in effect for American Falls Reservoir. Expect clear skies through Thursday with much less wind expected. High temperatures should be near normal through Friday. Expect mainly dry conditions through Friday morning but flow turning southwesterly aloft will bring some monsoonal moisture into southeast Idaho and expect isolated thunderstorms by Friday afternoon to overspread the area and continue into Friday evening. GK .LONG TERM...Friday night through Wednesday. An upper low off the BC coast is expected to eject a minor trof thru the Pac NW Fri night and Sat...setting off widely scattered tstms. Another trof moves thru on Sun for another round of widely scattered tstms. The upper trof moves east by Mon morn...taking the precip with it. The main upper low moves inland to the ID panhandle on Tue...but precip should remain to the north. This pattern remains virtually unchanged thru Wed...and will keep temps closer to normal. Hedges && .AVIATION...Gusty winds are expected to diminish this evening. Smoke from area fires may have minor impacts on visibilities...but conditions are expected to remain VFR. Hedges && .FIRE WEATHER... Dry conditions expected into Friday morning. Wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph in parts of zone 410 and 413 will die down this evening and expect much less wind Thursday and Friday. Big forecast concern is Friday through the weekend as flow aloft turns southwest and allows some monsoonal moisture into southeast and central Idaho. Expect isolated thunderstorms Friday afternoon through Sunday across the district and the potential for some fire starts. GK && .PIH Watches/Warnings/Advisories... Lake Wind Advisory until 6 PM MDT this evening for IDZ021. &&
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 37 year old woman and her 11 year daughter died in accidents near Fish Haven on Bear Lake. Winds allegedly played a factor in causing flotation devices to drift from shore. Highest recorded wind speeds at the Bear Lake airport near the time of accident were 29 mph.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind, Wasatch Mountains/Iadho Portion | 2016-08-03 | 11 | Female | In Water | Indirect |
| Strong Wind, Wasatch Mountains/Iadho Portion | 2016-08-03 | 37 | Female | In Water | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, August 2016
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: 658361.