High Wind in Upper Snake River Plain, Idaho

Extremely strong winds occurred throughout the day with several locations recording over 60 mph wind gusts with a peak of 70 mph at Kettle Butte. A gust of 64 mph was recorded at the Idaho Falls Airport ASOS. Interstate 15 from Idaho Falls to Sage Junction was proactively closed at noon and later closed south of Idaho falls to Shelley. Multiple trees reported downed in Idaho Falls many in the Tautphaus Park area. Approximately 2,050 customers without power in idaho Falls as of 440 PM MDT. About 500 customers without power in Jefferson County. Shingle damage and fence damage reported throughout Bopnneville County. A paintball center owner reported torn nets, broken poles and bunkers.

Yet another in a week of extremely strong winds occurred with the strongest wind day with a peak of 89 mph at East Butte and several gusts over 70 mph throughout the state. Interstate 15 was pre-emptively closed from Shelley to north of Idaho Falls in anticipation of the extreme event. It was a widespread event with some damage and power outages occurring as well.