During the evening of May 25th a weather spotter observed a funnel cloud over the mountains west of Moyie Springs. Radar at the time indicated a weak shower in the area.
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The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
During the evening of May 25th a weather spotter observed a funnel cloud over the mountains west of Moyie Springs. Radar at the time indicated a weak shower in the area. The funnel cloud lingered for about 10 minutes and then dissipated without touching down.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 25, 5:02 PM PST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 602 PM PDT Thu May 25 2017 .SYNOPSIS... After this evening's showers and thunderstorms, strong high pressure will build over the region for this weekend. Expect dry and warm weather for Memorial Day. Look for afternoon temperatures in the 80s by Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Our warm weekend will likely cause rises on rivers in central and north central Washington next week. A return to cooler and unsettled weather looks to arrive late next week. && .DISCUSSION... Made some tweaks to the evening forecast. The best instability over the area will be over the far northern Cascades (north of Lake Chelan), Okanogan Highlands and Northeast Mtns this evening. These areas will continue to see the possibility for isolated thunderstorms into the early evening hours. I removed thunderstorms from the Northern Panhandle where dew points are a bit lower and convection in BC is falling apart as it crosses the Canadian border. It does not appear that convection will stay together long enough to drift into the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area, so I also removed mention of showers for this area as well. /SVH && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS: Convection over the Okanogan Highlands and Northeast Mtns of Washington will be capable of occasional lightning strikes, wind gusts to 25 mph and brief heavy rain. Much of the activity through the rest of this evening is expected to be around airfields near Colville, Republic and Omak. Thunderstorms will be moving south into a more stable environment with the expectation that they will weaken as they push off of the higher terrain. There will be a small possibility for a weak outflow from the northwest into KGEG and KSFF between 02-04Z. The upper low pressure system helping to generate this convection will exit the region to the south with skies clearing overnight. /SVH && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 454 PM PDT Thu May 25 2017/ Tonight and Friday...An upper trough will remain over the region through tonight before beginning to shift east on Friday. A combination of daytime heating and cold air aloft associated with the trough will lead to continued development of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms into early this evening. This will occur mainly over the Cascades, northern mountains, and Idaho Panhandle where sun breaks have been the most prevalent. Cloud cover has limited heating across the Columbia Basin, Spokane area, and over much of SE Washington and the Lewiston area. This should result in dry conditions through tonight although can not rule out a shower coming off the northern mountains towards the Highway 2 corridor from Wilbur to Airway Heights. Overall convection will decrease after sunset but just enough mid level moisture and instability will linger overnight for the potential for isolated showers for the Idaho Panhandle. With the departing upper trough and drier air aloft moving into Central and Eastern Washington on Friday...skies are expected to be mostly clear with warmer temperatures. Residual showers are expected over the Idaho Panhandle with a slight chance of thunderstorms for the Camas Prairie and Central Panhandle Mountains. JW Friday night through Tuesday: Warm and mostly dry weather can be expected for the holiday weekend. An upper level ridge will strengthen over the region, while a trough digs over the eastern Pacific and slowly presses toward the coast. The main story will be warming temperatures, some of the warmest of the year so far. Anticipate daytime highs in the 80s to lower 90s for Sunday, Monday and even Tuesday. This would be above normal by about 15 degrees! Little factoid, the last time we had a Memorial Day this warm was in 1995. Despite the strong ridge of high pressure, there will be subtle changes in the pattern that will lead to convection. For Saturday, this should not be a problem with plenty of dry air aloft and a good cap in place. Mountain convection looks to begin to bloom over the Cascades Sunday afternoon and early evening. Moisture at 700mb will increase in the weak southwest flow into the Cascades while instability increases and the cap eases along the periphery of the ridge aloft. Light upslope flow into the east slopes of the Cascades will aid in the development of a few showers and possible thunderstorms. By Monday, there looks to be another round of convection, targeting the Cascades and parts of northern Idaho mountains with a weak cap and orographic lift. Then Tuesday, more convection in the mountains is possible but this round may have more support and better instability. GFS seems to be the more aggressive model with this scenario while the ECWMF is weaker and slower. This warming will lead to increased mountain snow melt and rises on area rivers and streams. A couple rivers may still be on the rise from the previous warm spell, but most river levels have fallen. River models indicate rises increasing up by early next week. In addition to rising water levels, remember water temperatures will be quite cold with the recent snow melt. /rfox. Tuesday evening through Friday...Just how long the ridge holds onto the area is questionable. The last few runs of the GFS have shifted the ridge axis into western Montana by Tuesday evening, while the EC is a bit slower. This model doesn't nudge the ridge east of the area until Wednesday afternoon. The Canadian is somewhere in between. For now we will keep the mild and dry weather largely intact through Tuesday evening and then we will introduce the chance of precipitation through the remainder of the period. Model agreement is better by Thursday and Friday will all solutions having a trough of some sorts over the region. This will result in cooling temperatures with highs retreating into the 70s. Given the strength of the ridge breakdown, we'd expect to see some thunderstorms, especially over the mountains. And if the GFS is correct some of these storms could be stronger than just ordinary thunderstorms, but that's a long way out so there could be lots of changes before then. fx && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 47 74 51 78 55 82 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 44 73 47 77 49 81 / 10 10 10 0 0 10 Pullman 44 70 45 76 47 80 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 48 77 50 82 53 87 / 0 10 10 0 0 0 Colville 45 76 48 81 52 82 / 30 0 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 42 71 43 76 46 78 / 10 10 10 0 0 10 Kellogg 41 71 43 76 46 79 / 10 20 10 0 0 10 Moses Lake 47 82 50 86 52 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 51 81 55 84 57 88 / 20 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 49 81 50 85 52 87 / 20 0 0 0 0 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 747 AM PDT Thu May 25 2017 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>037-041-044-261500- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-WENATCHEE AREA-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 747 AM PDT Thu May 25 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... North Central Idaho...Central Washington...East Central Washington...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A chance of thunderstorms develops this afternoon and early evening. Some may contain brief heavy downpours, gusty winds, small hail and occasional lightning. Although the probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY No hazardous weather is expected at this time. WAZ038-042-043-261500- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY- 747 AM PDT Thu May 25 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A chance of thunderstorms develops this afternoon and early evening. Some may contain brief heavy downpours, gusty winds, small hail and occasional lightning. Although the probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. Runoff from recent snowmelt will keep some rivers and streams near bankfull or higher. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY Warming temperatures will result in increased snowmelt and result in continued or additional rises on area rivers and streams. Localized mainstem river flooding is possible.
The Spokane radar (KOTX), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:11 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A funnel cloud was observed for approximately 10 minutes over the mountains west of Moyie Springs.
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: 699567.