Tornadoes · United States · Idaho

1990 tornadoes in Idaho

9 tornadoes touched down in Idaho in 1990, 139 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1989 1991 The whole country in 1990

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Idaho in 1990

April 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 203:24 PM MDTF0Twin Falls0.210

June 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 95:45 PM MDTF2Jerome0.210$5,000 to $50,000

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 105:10 PM MDTF1Gooding0.210$500 to $5,000

July 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 910:30 PM MDTF1Washington0.120$5,000 to $50,000

July 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 308:00 PM MDTF0Canyon0.120$500 to $5,000

August 17 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 172:12 PM MDTF0Power0.1100
August 172:20 PM MDTF0Power0.150
August 172:25 PM MDTF2Power4.0100$50,000 to $500,000

September 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 34:15 PM MDTF0Twin Falls0.110

Nearby

Every tornado in Idaho since 1950Warnings in force in IdahoThe live radar over Idaho

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.