Idaho, 2016

Funnel Cloud in Idaho, March 28, 2016

March 28, 2016 · NWS PIH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold air funnel cloud was photographed near Idaho Falls late in the morning on March 28th.

Where it happened

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  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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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 cold air funnel cloud was photographed near Idaho Falls late in the morning on March 28th.

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 Mar 28, 10:17 AM MST, 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 10:17 AM MST, 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1117 AM MDT MON MAR 28 2016

.UPDATE...CANCELLED THE WINTER ADVISORY ABOUT 2 HOURS EARLY DUE TO
ENERGY MOVING AWAY FROM THE AREA FASTER THAN EXPECTED. NEXT PIECE
OF ENERGY NOW IN UTAH HEADING TOWARDS OUR SOUTHERN BORDER AREAS BY
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT TO UPDATE THE FORECAST AROUND 2 PM
WITH UPDATING THE WATCH TO WARNINGS IN THE MOUNTAIN AREAS AND
WINTER ADVISORY IN THE SNAKE PLAIN THIS EVENING THROUGH TOMORROW.

VP

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 252 AM MDT MON MAR 28 2016/

SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FORECAST TODAY. INITIAL PRECIPITATION POST
COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE CONTINUING IN EASTERN HIGHLANDS THIS MORNING
ALONG INTERSTATE 15 SOUTH OF POCATELLO AND POINTS EAST. WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON IN THE EASTERN
HIGHLANDS WITH DIFFICULT ROAD CONDITIONS. SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF
THIS AFTERNOON. SECOND BATCH OF PRECIPIATION SHOULD WORK NORTH
TONIGHT AS UPPER LOW WORKS SOUTH INTO NEVADA. RUN TO RUN MODEL
LOCATIONS OF COLD AIR AND BANDS OF HEAVY PRECIPIATION VARIES AND
LATEST 06Z NAM RUN BACKS OFF PRECIPITATION SIGNIFICANTLY. COLD
SURFACE AIR GRADIENT EXTREMELY TIGHT AND ANY VARIATION OF MOVEMENT
EAST OR WEST OF UPPER LOW WILL CHANGE SNOWFALL AREAS
SIGNIFICANTLY. FOR NOW INCLUDED EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE
RIVER PLAIN IN WINTER STORM WATCH FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH
NOON TUESDAY. WARM AIR COULD PUSH WEST FROM THE EAST AND GREATLY
LIMIT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. RIGHT NOW HEAVIEST SNOW COULD BE SOUTH
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY. SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
MOUNTAINS ALSO IN WATCH FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL WEDNESDAY MORNING.
AT THIS POINT 6 TO 12 INCHES PERHAPS IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
HIGHLANDS AND 3 TO 6 INCHES IN SNAKE PLAIN AND EASTERN MAGIC
VALLEY. ALTHOUGH POSSIBLE SNAKE PLAIN MAY SEE LITTLE TO NONE. HIGH
UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS SYSTEM AT THIS TIME. FOR NOW WITH THE
UNCERTAINTY JUST WENT WITH THE WATCH.
GK

LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. STRONG NORTHERLY
FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN A FEW SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE EASTERN
HIGHLANDS AND ALONG THE DIVIDE ON THU. THE REST OF THE FCST AREA
WILL COME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE OVER
THE W COAST. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL MOVE INLAND BY FRI RESULTING IN
DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS THRU SAT. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF IN AGREEMENT.
BY SAT NIGHT THE RIDGE LOSES MOST OF ITS AMPLITUDE WITH BOTH MODELS
BRINGING A FEW SNOW SHOWERS TO THE CENTRAL MTNS SAT NIGHT...
SPREADING TO THE NE HIGHLANDS ON SUN. LITTLE ACCUMULATION
EXPECTED. BOTH MODELS BRING ANOTHER UPPER TROF INTO THE PAC NW ON
MON...WITH THE ECMWF BEING MORE PROGRESSIVE. BOTH MODELS BRING
PRECIP BACK ACROSS THE AREA ON MON AND MON NIGHT...BUT MAINLY IN THE
MTNS. LOOKS LIKE A FAST MOVING SYSTEM...SO PRECIP AMOUNTS SHOULD
BE LIGHT. HEDGES

AVIATION...PRECIP HAS MOVED OFF TO THE EAST EARLY THIS MORNING
EXCEPT FOR SOME LINGERING LIGHT SNOW AND LOW CIGS AT KIDA.
CONDITIONS AT KIDA EXPECTED TO IMPROVE BEFORE SUNRISE. THE REST OF
THE AREA EXPECTED TO REMAIN VFR...BUT CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE IN
THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN/EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY BY LATE AFTN AS NORTH
WINDS RESULT IN UPSLOPE FLOW INTO THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS. KBYI AND
KPIH SHOULD FEEL THE GREATEST IMPACT WITH LOW CIGS AND RAIN CHANGING
TO SNOW. KSUN SHOULD ESCAPE THE BRUNT OF THE PRECIP...BUT NW WINDS
EXPECTED TO BECOME FAIRLY STRONG BY EVE. HEDGES

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WATCH FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR
IDZ017-020-021.

WINTER STORM WATCH FROM 6 PM MDT THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT FOR IDZ019-022-023-025.

&&

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Bonneville

When
March 28, 10:30 AM MST to 10:50 AM MST
Where
Bonneville County, 1 mi W of Idaho Falls
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
43.480, -112.050

A cold air funnel cloud was photographed near Idaho Falls late in the morning on March 28th.

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

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: 625750.