Hail, Ada
- When
- March 21, 1:00 PM MST to 1:15 PM MST
- Where
- Ada County, Star to 1.49 mi NW of Eagle
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- NWS Employee
- Coordinates
- 43.700, -116.480
A NWS employee reported one inch hail at Star, Idaho.
Hail in Idaho, March 21, 2016
An Upper level trough and a strong upper level jet of 110 knots was the focus for severe thunderstorms across parts of Southwest 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
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 BOI wrote it up.
An Upper level trough and a strong upper level jet of 110 knots was the focus for severe thunderstorms across parts of Southwest Idaho.
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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 21, 9:08 AM MST, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 9:08 AM MST, 3 hours 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 1008 AM MDT MON MAR 21 2016 .DISCUSSION...OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 47 AT BOISE TO NEAR FREEZING ACROSS NW HARNEY COUNTY AND MUCH OF CENTRAL IDAHO. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WERE MOSTLY LIGHT /AROUND 0.05/ ACROSS SE OREGON THROUGH THE TREASURE VALLEY. OTHER REPORTS /INCLUDING COCORAHS AND MESOWEST/ SHOWED 24 HR AMOUNTS FROM 0.10 TO 0.25 ACROSS THE BOISE FOOTHILLS THROUGH CENTRAL IDAHO MOUNTAINS. RAIN IS FINALLY MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND LIGHTNING WAS REPORTED WEST OF JEROME. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING MAINLY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND IN THE MOUNTAINS. BREEZY ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON S OF HIGHWAY 20 AND WINDY TUESDAY AFTERNOON EAST OF BOISE THROUGH THE MAGIC VALLEY. && .AVIATION...GENERALLY VFR. SCATTERED MVFR TO IFR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. SNOW LEVELS 6-7KFT MSL LOWERING TO 3KFT MSL BY 12Z/TUE. SURFACE WINDS BECOMING SOUTHWESTERLY 10-20KT WITH GUSTS TO 35KT IN SE OREGON. WINDS SHIFTING TO WESTERLY-NORTHWESTERLY 10- 20KT WITH GUSTS TO 35KT WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE BETWEEN 00Z/TUE TO 12Z/TUE. WINDS ALOFT AT 10KFT MSL...SW 30-45KT BECOMING NW 30-40KT BY 12Z/TUE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY...UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ALONG THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST THIS MORNING WILL TRANSITION EASTWARD TODAY ACROSS OREGON AND INTO SOUTHWEST IDAHO ON TUESDAY. STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET /110 KTS/ EXTENDING FROM NORTHWEST NEVADA INTO EASTERN IDAHO AS BEEN THE FOCUS OF CONVECTIVE SHOWERS THIS MORNING IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO. A MAJORITY OF SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE PLACEMENT OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET TODAY WHICH WILL BE SOUTH OF A ROME- MOUNTAIN HOME-SUN VALLEY LINE AS WELL AS AHEAD OF COLD FRONT LATER THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE BUT ONLY IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED WHERE THE BEST DYNAMICS WILL BE LOCATED. A COLD FRONT WILL REACH SOUTHEAST OREGON BETWEEN 00Z-03Z AND SOUTHWEST IDAHO BETWEEN 03Z- 06Z. EXPECT BREEZY CONDITIONS TODAY AHEAD OF THE FRONT ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON WITH WINDS GUSTS UP TO 35 KTS. TEMPERATURES WILL AGAIN BE MILD /LOW 60S IN THE VALLEY/ TODAY BUT WILL COOL BY ABOUT 10 DEGREES ON TUESDAY UNDER THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. COLD AND BREEZY CONDITIONS ON TUESDAY WITH CONVECTIVE SHOWERS EXPECTED IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS AROUND 6500 FEET TODAY WILL LOWER TO 3500 FEET TUESDAY MORNING. LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...PROGRESSIVE PATTERN REMAINS IN PLACE INTO NEXT WEEKEND. A DRYING TREND ON WEDNESDAY AS A QUICK MOVING SHORT WAVE RIDGE TRANSITIONS ACROSS THE REGION. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH TRACKS THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY WITH RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP TO AROUND 4K FEET AS THE UPPER TROUGH PASSES ON FRIDAY. DRIER CONDITIONS SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY WITH PRECIPITATION CHANCES INCREASING LATE SUNDAY AS ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES IN TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. OR...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/BOISE DISCUSSION...VM AVIATION.....KA PREV SHORT TERM...JDS PREV LONG TERM....DG
The radar
The Boise radar (KCBX), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:58 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flooding and Wildfire in Hawaii, March 21 to 26, 2016
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Massachusetts, March 21, 2016
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 21, 2016
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 21, 2016
- Winter Weather in Rhode Island, March 21, 2016
- Winter Weather in Connecticut, March 21, 2016
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 21, 2016
- Dust Storm and High Wind in California, March 21 to 22, 2016
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2016
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: 618315.