A cold front moving through Idaho brought a period of very strong winds to the region .
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 cold front moving through Idaho brought a period of very strong winds to the region .
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 12, 2:41 AM MST, 9 hours 19 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 341 AM MDT Fri May 12 2017 .SHORT TERM...Today through Saturday night. Upper low situated off the WA/OR coast will keep us in a broad, moist southwesterly flow aloft through most of the short-term period. Radar this morning is depicting some low-reflectivity showers across the area, but no real organization to any of the radar signatures. Marginal severe risk exists just to our north in western Montana, but have continued with gusty winds/small hail wording for this afternoon/evening. Strong forcing is on the way with a powerful cold front moving through this afternoon. Soundings are showing some modest instability ahead of the front, and elevated instability behind the front. We will also be seeing some strong surface winds as the front passes, which is the basis for the wind advisory in the Snake Plain/South Central Highlands. An additional concern will be the precip totals for the next two days. Up to a half inch of precip will fall over the Big Wood basin, which could potentially exacerbate flooding in that area. Snow levels drop after the front passes, and snow amounts will be in the 1 to 3 inch range over the Central Mountains. Hinsberger .LONG TERM...Sunday through Thursday. A low pressure trough moves inland Sunday with isolates afternoon thunderstorms expected both inn the Central Mountains and near the Wyoming border. This trough increases in amplitude Monday as it passes over the Great Basin. Moisture and instability increase across Southeast Idaho leading to a chance of showers and thunderstorms in all mountain area, and at least a slight chance of thunderstorms over the Snake Plain. This disturbance quickly exits east by Tuesday morning, only to be replaced by a closed low pressure circulation entering the Pacific Northwest. Models have shown some differences in handling of this low and this morning is no different. The GFS places the center of the 500 mb low by 12Z Wednesday morning roughly near Dixie Valley, Nevada, while the ECMWF has it about 200 miles further east. Those differences grow considerably Thursday and Friday. This is important when trying to assess impacts on flooding. The wrap around moisture in the GFS currently suggests a half inch to near an inch of liquid equivalent on the Pioneer mountains to the east of Hailey, and edge of the Snake Plain from Picabo up to about Mud Lake. This is a 24 hour value from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning. The heavy precipitation shifts towards the Caribou Highlands Thursday and Friday. There is also a little risk of convective feedback in the model that could result in bogus precipitation amounts. some of this should be resolved by the models as we approach next week. RS && .AVIATION...Cold front advancing up the Snake Plain this morning with the post frontal surface pressure gradient increasing by about 17z. Wind advisory is in effect for the Snake Plain and South Central Highlands and continues through 13/10z. Isolated thunderstorms expected vicinity of KSUN, KBYI, and KDIJ after 20Z. RS && .HYDROLOGY...Much of the Central Mountains remains under a flood warning, with additional runoff from snowmelt and rainfall coming in the next 24 to 48 hours. The Big Wood River at Hailey will continue in moderate flood stage through the weekend, and is expected to crest just below its record Saturday morning. Valley Creek in Stanley is also highlighted under this warning. Elsewhere, the Portneuf River in Pocatello remains a hair above moderate flooding, but is expected to subside into minor flooding later this afternoon/evening. The Bear River at the WY border remains in minor flooding and is expected to continue in minor flooding through the weekend. Finally, the Henry's Fork near Rexburg is bank-full, and is expected to crest in minor flood stage on Sunday. Hinsberger && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 4 AM MDT Saturday for IDZ017-020>022. &&
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were recorded along interstate 84 in Cassia County near Idahome.
Wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph occurred in the Snake River Plain with a trampoline blown onto a roof in Pocatello.
AReas of Idaho Falls, Ammon and Iona lost power the evening of May 12th. High winds were the suspected cause and 2,707 customers were without power.
A 64 mph wind gust was measured on interstate 84 in Oneida County 9 miles north of Black Pine.
A 59 mph wind gust occurred at the Challis airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 2017
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: 703584, 703585, 703586, 703587, 703588.