Lemhi storm history

A 37 year old man riding a horse was struck by lightning and killed.

Destructive thunderstorms swept through the Leadore area, unleashing estimated wind gusts of 80 mph. A local motel and a double-wide mobile home had their roofs ripped off by the violent winds. The storm also toppled trees, damaged home siding, pushed over 300 feet of fencing, an…

Strong cold front triggered thunderstorms and caused the temperature to drop from 59 degrees to 46 in an hour. Wind gust occurred with thunderstorm outflow. No storm damage noted.

A strong cold front initiated a thunderstorm over the mountains to the west. Radar imagery revealed the thunderstorm dropped its core by 6:13 pm which triggered the high winds. No storm damage noted around the town of Salmon.

A severe thunderstorm produced golf ball sized hail.

Flash flooding and mudslides occurred along Salmon River Road from just above Ebenezer Campground to just below Owl Creek. Radar estimates of up to 1.25 inches of rain fell over a half hour period across the southern half of the Owl Creek Basin. There were three major slides alon…

The forest service reported that over 200 trees were blown down across a 22 mile stretch of road from Spring Creek to Long Tom Lookout.

There were reports received that multiple large debris slides occurred between Pine Creek and Panther Creek along the Salmon River Road, leading to rescue operations to free stranded motorists. There were also reports of large boulders on the road between Indianola and Spring Cre…

The Beartrack Mine reported significant runoff on several of the nearby drainages, and the flood waters including soot from the 2022 Moose Creek wildfire overflowed several structures with no significant damage.

A dispatcher reported flooding with mud and rocks across the north bound lane of US-93 near Twelve Mile County Road. The location was near milepost 292.9 north of Elk Bend.

The Idaho Transportation Department reported that a major landslide occurred which covered US-93 in both directions near Warm Springs Road at milepost 282 near Elk Bend.

The Salmon-Challis National Forest reported that a landslide had fully blocked the Salmon River Road, one mile southwest of Pine Creek.

Ice jam related flooding damaged 3 homes and properties and flooded driveways of 10-12 additional homes. Hay fields were covered with 3 feet of ice with damage to stored hay.

A RAWS station above the city of Salmon recorded a wind gust to 66 mph. There was extensive damage within Salmon, mainly centered on the southern side of the city. Damage included damage to roofs, RVs blown over, and high school bleachers blown over.

The Idaho Department of Transportation reported numerous rock and mudslides blocking US Highway 93 between Elk Bend and Ellis as a result of heavy rainfall. The roadway was closed for a period of time to allow for crews to clear roadways. Area gauge measurements suggested half an…

Salmon-Challis National Forest officials reported a 30 feet wide by three feet deep sand and dirt debris flow across Salmon River Road, 1.5 miles west of Panther Creek. Another debris flow was reported from the Dutch Oven Creek drainage and was three feet wide, by four feet deep,…

A debris flow occurred above the Hot Springs ranch road south of the Tower Creek area. The Idaho Department of Transportation cleaned it up with a grader.

A local business near the 4th of July Creek estimated the hail that fell to be the size of quarters.

Hail damaged skylights, air conditioning units and caused leaks in a few RV's at a nearby campground.

Road crews, the public, and the county emergency manager all had reports of damage from the strong winds during the late evening. Power companies reported outages to approximately 600 customers due to trees on power lines. A storm spotter in the area reported losing a few shingle…

The USGS river gauge Salmon River at Salmon reported possible minor flooding (stage height of 7.5-8.5) on May 31st. The river continued to rise and reached moderate flood stage (stage height of 8.5-9.5) from June 2nd through June 10th. Multiple roads in the area lost shoulders du…

The USGS river gauge Salmon River at Salmon reported minor flooding on May 31st. The river continued to rise and reached moderate flood stage in the first half of June. See June storm data report for more information.

Local emergency manager reported flooding at the Oregon Bar campground 7 miles north of Salmon. Also an NWS employee reported minor flooding in the Elk Bend area, where water was flowing over yards and into outbuildings.

A spotter in Elk Bend reported golf ball sized hail that smashed approximately 6 car windows.

The Lemhi County dispatch reported ping pong ball-sized hail with the storm.

A person from the public reported a small metal building had been thrown across a ranch, ending up in the ditch near the corner of Long Road and US-93. The Lemhi County Sheriff reported a few trees down around Salmon. One of the larger trees was deemed unhealthy. A person from th…

The Lemhi County Airport AWOS measured a 64 mph wind gust at 3:35 pm MDT. The local media from Salmon reported that a 100 year old American Elm tree, up to 3 feet in diameter, had been knocked down from the winds. Multiple mature Cottonwood trees were also knocked down west of do…

Temperatures up to 48 F on February 6th, 2015 and above-freezing temperatures near 44 F overnight led to rapid snow melt which caused Salmon, ID area creeks and rivers to rise rapidly on February 7th. Temperatures reached up to 56 F that day, with rain runoff further complicating…

About 20 ponderosa pine trees fell down onto the main Salmon River Road while one pine tree smashed the USGS river gauge on the Salmon River. Evidence revealed that debris flows occurred at Boulder Creek, Owl Creek, Colson Creek and at an unnamed gulch. The unnamed gulch produced…

The spotter at the Leadore Ranger Station reported dime to penny size hail.

The weather spotter at the Leadore Ranger Station reported 0.40 of rainfall that fell in less than an hour.

The Kriley Creek RAWS, located at 5,200 ft MSL, reported 0.52 of rain in one hour. Radar data reveals that the rain could have fallen much quicker in approximately 30 minutes or less.

The Salmon RAWS, located at 5,100 ft. MSL, reported 0.58 of rainfall in one hour. According to radar storm echo trends, the rain could have fallen in less than 30 minutes time.

Although not under the main multicellular thunderstorm cores, the Indianola RAWS located at 3,529 ft MSL still reported 0.39 of rain in one hour. Considering what other weather stations in the area reported, this amount could have fallen in a much quicker timescale.

The Kriley Creek RAWS at 5,200 ft. MSL reported a hurricane force wind gust associated with a wet multicellular thunderstorm. It also reported a 69 mph gust during the 4:51 to 5:51 pm MDT hour. Doppler radar data shows that this gust probably occurred after 5:30 pm MDT. It also s…

The Salmon RAWS located 3 miles southwest of the city of Salmon at 5,100 feet reported a strong wind gust to 69 mph that occurred sometime between 5:36 and 6:00 pm MDT. Weather spotters reported trees down and a power outage in Salmon. A television news station reported on Facebo…

A washout near Cramer Creek closed Salmon River Road/NF - 30 for a time. Nearby weather stations in Lemhi county reported anywhere from 0.39 up to 0.58 in less than 30 minutes with these storms.

Very wet thunderstorms triggered flash flooding in the Kriley Creek drainage. This debris flow traveled over the northbound lane of highway 93 shutting it down for a period. The BLM road Kriley Gulch Rd was closed in the Kriley Creek drainage due to another separate washout.

A flash flood occurred in the lower Colson Creek area in northwestern Lemhi County over part of the old 2012 Mustang fire burn scar. Colson Creek Rd. and Road 30 needed to be graded afterwards to permit safe vehicle passage. Up to one foot of debris deposited on roads in several …

A very large right-moving & long-lived supercell developed across south-central Idaho and tracked north and east across northeastern Lemhi county. A trained spotter in Salmon, Idaho reported quarter size hail. Insurance companies reported at least 200 damage claims to both vehicl…

A person from the public estimated ping pong size hail as she was rafting on the Salmon River about 100 yards north of the Salmon River I-93 bridge about one mile south of Carmen, Idaho. Their floating party was unable to reach the beach due to strong southerly winds and proceede…

A trained spotter in Salmon, Idaho reported trees down over roadways, power lines down in three different areas with power outages and a roof over a patio blew off.

A trained spotter northeast of Carmen estimated that most hail sizes ranged between 0.75 and 1 but there were a few that were up to ping pong size. The hail damaged several fruit trees and tomatoes. His neighbor's wood siding on his house was also damaged.

The Leadore Creek RAWS station at 6,150 ft., reported a 60 mph wind gust between 3:36 and 4:36 pm MDT thanks to a decaying thunderstorm cell that passed just to its north.

A forest service employee reported flash flooding that pushed debris across Salmon River Rd. east of Spring Creek closing one lane. Doppler radar estimated 0.78 of rainfall 30 minutes ending at 4:30 pm MDT across the Spring Creek basin.

A thunderstorm cell developed over extreme southeastern Idaho county (over 9 kft terrain) and split into two separate supercells as it moved into Lemhi County. The left-moving supercell tracked across the old Mustang burn scarred Colson Creek drainage basin (Mustang Fire from 201…

A high precipitation, left-moving supercell caused very heavy rainfall to fall over the Mustang burn scarred Owl Creek drainage basin inducing a large debris flow. Doppler radar estimates of 0.58 fell 30 minutes ending at 7:28 pm MDT over this basin. The debris flow severely dama…

The Skull Gulch RAWS at 5878 feet measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph.

The Salmon RAWS at 5100 feet measured a thunderstorm gust of 71 mph.