A strong cold frontal passage brought high winds mainly to the Arco Desert and Upper Snake River Plain on the 9th. Widespread gusts of over 60 mph were recorded.
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The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.
A strong cold frontal passage brought high winds mainly to the Arco Desert and Upper Snake River Plain on the 9th. Widespread gusts of over 60 mph were recorded.
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 9, 10:34 AM MST, 26 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 1134 AM MDT Mon Mar 9 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - A prolonged period of windy conditions is expected most of the week - Strong winds across portions of the Snake Plain and Magic Valley this afternoon and evening - Cool temperatures Tuesday behind the cold front, but mild temperatures return for later in the week as gusty winds and high elevation showers persist && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1203 AM MDT Mon Mar 9 2026 The main theme this week will be wind, and sometimes a LOT of it. The days with stronger winds out of the next 7 will be today, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. For today, we are still forecasting gusts of 35-55 mph over a good portion of central and eastern Idaho. The strongest will be across the ridgelines of the central mountains and eastern highlands, Bear River Range, the upper half of the Snake Plain and Lava Beds across the Magic Valley. We have a WIND ADVISORY for the Snake Plain this afternoon and evening. We will be extending this back into the Magic Valley as some gusts will exceed 45 mph. There is still some potential of gusts over 55 mph across the Arco Desert and bench areas around Idaho Falls and Rexburg. That chance is still around 40-80%. We did push wind and wind gusts to reflect a short wind of gusts hitting 60-ish mph across the Arco Desert/INL and those bench areas. It is not enough in terms of time or area to hoist the High Wind Warning flag for those areas. For tomorrow, winds will be strong once again, but slightly lower than today. The focus shifts a bit south tomorrow to across the Magic Valley and lower half of the Snake Plain, with a 20-60% chance of gusts over 55 mph. We may need another advisory tomorrow, but will look at later today or this evening. Thursday and Saturday look potentially more windy than today, with a pretty widespread 30-80% chance of exceeding gusts of 55 mph both afternoons. We are looking at some occasional showers throughout the week. A few showers are possible today, with an uptick tonight and Tuesday across the central mountains and eastern highlands. In fact, the only day we MIGHT be shower free is Wednesday. When we do see showers, precipitation amounts will be light and mostly confined to the mountains. The pattern dips far enough south tomorrow and again later in the week and next weekend to MAYBE see a few showers farther south in the mountains and even the Snake Plain/Magic Valley. At the moment, chances outside of the central mountains and eastern highlands until next weekend are VERY LOW. Temperatures today will be 5-10 degrees cooler than Sunday, but still looking at above average temperatures with 50s in the lower valleys. Tuesday will be even cooler behind the front, actually a bit below average with highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s for lower elevations. We will quickly rebound later in the week. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1131 AM MDT Mon Mar 9 2026 The impact through Tuesday will be the winds. Expect VFR sky conditions through the period. Expect sustained 30 knot winds at PIH and IDA this afternoon with 15 to 25 sustained at SUN, DIJ and BYI. Gusts over 40 knots at PIH and IDA and 25 to 35 at the other three sites. Expect diminishing winds after 03Z at all the sites than increasing again substantially late Tuesday morning to the 15 to 30 knot sustained with gusts 25 to 40 knots. Winds conditions expected all week. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for IDZ051>055-065. && DISCUSSION...Keyes AVIATION...GK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Some of the extreme wind gusts were 71 mph at Tom Cat Summit, 67 mph at Rover mesonet station, 66 mph at INL Puzzle, 62 mph at INL Critical Infrastructure, and 62 mph at Craters of the Moon. Dozens of gusts over 50 mph were recorded.
The Rexburg ASOS recorded a 62 mph wind gust and the Idaho Falls ASOS recorded a 61 mph wind gust. The peak gust was 66 mph at Kettle Butte.
The Canyon Creek mesonet site recorded a 59 mph wind gust and 56 mph recorded at Fall River. River Rim recorded 57 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2026
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: 1327350, 1327375, 1327377.