Blowing dust and ash from the Lava Trail Fire reduced visibility causing a shut down of Highway 20 for over 12 hours on the 6th and 7th. Winds gusted 35 to 45 mph.
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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.
Blowing dust and ash from the Lava Trail Fire reduced visibility causing a shut down of Highway 20 for over 12 hours on the 6th and 7th. Winds gusted 35 to 45 mph.
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 Aug 7, 4:49 PM MST, 39 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 549 PM MDT Thu Aug 7 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Breezy Today With Isolated Storms North and East - Critical Fire Weather Conditions Today Due to Wind & Humidity - Much Cooler Temperatures Tomorrow && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... Issued at 201 PM MDT Thu Aug 7 2025 As an area of low pressure moves eastward through eastern Washington state, northern Idaho, and Montana an associated cold front will swing through Eastern Idaho later this evening/tonight. This will bring a few isolated showers and storms to the area this evening, though coverage will be limited to areas in the Central Mountains, upper Snake River Plain, and northern Eastern Highlands and many of us will stay dry. So far, storms are popping up in northeastern Custer county into Lemhi county and moving northeast. Any of these storms that kick off in our area look fairly benign today, or your "garden variety" type summer thunderstorm. What more of us will notice is the gusty winds through the afternoon and evening. Gusts will range from 25 to 35 mph for many with gusts closer to 40 or even pushing 45 mph out across the Arco Desert and upper Snake River Plain. This is the area where the Red Flag Warning is in effect today, so will not be issuing a WIND ADVISORY for the same area. However, be aware that the NBM is showing about a 30 to 50 percent chance of gusts greater than 45 mph from Carey to Arco to Dubois and eastward to Ashton. Winds will diminish a bit overnight, though we will still see some gusts of 20 to 25 mph tonight and through Friday. While this cold front won't bring much precipitation, it will at least bring some relief from the heat. Highs today will be in the mid to upper 80s in our valley locations and we will be about 5 to 10 degrees cooler on Friday, meaning highs for many in the mid to upper 70s and a few low 80s. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 201 PM MDT Thu Aug 7 2025 For the weekend, our forecast is looking warm and dry. We remain in north/northwesterly flow aloft through Sunday and temperatures will begin to slowly warm again. Highs on Saturday will be in upper 70s and low 80s with more of us returning to the mid and upper 80s on Sunday. The warming trend continues next week with highs returning to the 90s for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as we return to more zonal flow aloft by the middle of next week. Winds don't look particularly breezy through the weekend or Monday with gusts closer to 20 mph for most, but they will pick up a bit for Tuesday and Wednesday as gusts approach the 25 to 35 mph range. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 544 PM MDT Thu Aug 7 2025 Expect VFR conditions through the period. A dry cold front is moving through the area currently. Winds will remain elevated (20 to 25 kts) into the early evening and won't drop off under 12 kts until around midnight. Expect winds to ramp back up tomorrow afternoon with most TAF sites having gusts near 20kts. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 201 PM MDT Thu Aug 7 2025 Red Flag conditions are developing as expected across portions of the forecast area this afternoon, with RH values definitely running higher than yesterday yet stronger winds making up for the bump in those values as far as supporting overall fire risk. No changes are needed to the zone configuration currently warned (410, 413, 427). Thunderstorm coverage continues to look isolated into Zones 475, 476, and 411 this afternoon as well as more widespread activity remains further north. The low pressure system responsible for the increased winds and isolated thunderstorms departs Friday, with cooler temperatures and decreasing winds Friday into the weekend under northwest flow before we start trending warmer and a bit breezier again early next week (especially starting Tuesday). Prior to that, near-critical fire weather conditions for winds/RH are possible Friday across portions of Zones 425/427 as the current system pulls away, but overall coverage appears too limited at this juncture for another Red Flag Warning. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for IDZ410-413. Red Flag Warning until 6 PM MDT this evening for IDZ427. && SHORT TERM...AMM LONG TERM...AMM AVIATION...TW FIRE WEATHER...01
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Blowing dust and ash from the Lava Trail Fire reduced visibility causing a shut down of Highway 20 for over 12 hours on the 6th and 7th. Winds gusted 35 to 45 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, August 2025
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: 1288723.