Name: High Wind in Idaho, October 21 to 22, 2020
Start: 2020-10-21T10:30
End: 2020-10-22T02:00
Location: Idaho

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Interstate 15 again closed from north of Idaho Falls to Roberts from mile marker 119 to 135 on October 21st. Wind gusts up to 60 mph caused extensive blowing dust and visibilities to drop to zero. The interstate closed at 11:30 AM MDT and remained closed until the early morning of the 22nd.

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 Oct 20, 12:52 PM MST, 21 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 20, 12:52 PM MST, 21 hours 38 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Upper Snake River Plain

When: October 21, 10:30 AM MST to October 22, 2:00 AM MST
Where: Upper Snake River Plain forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.805, -111.767 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Interstate 15 again closed from north of Idaho Falls to Roberts from mile marker 119 to 135 on October 21st. Wind gusts up to 60 mph caused extensive blowing dust and visibilities to drop to zero. The interstate closed at 11:30 AM MDT and remained closed until the early morning of the 22nd.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, October 2020

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 925735.