Strafed by storms again? Strong system full of wind, rain stalks Boise, so stay sharp

Another round of thunderstorms plowed through downtown Boise on Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after storms caused heavy flooding throughout the city.

The problem this time around wasn’t heavy rain, but rather strong winds that have caused widespread power outages in Boise and beyond.

Idaho Power posted a note on its power outage map page at 7 p.m. that read crews were working as quickly as possible to restore electricity to thousands of customers around Boise. Many of the outages were small, but some, such as along State Street and in the East End and downtown, affected more than 1,500 customers.

There were at least a dozen outages across the city, stretching from the Boise Bench all the way out to near Eagle, and in the Highlands and North End.

The National Weather Service in Boise tracked a storm northeast of the city in the Boise Foothills that slowly approached downtown. A second storm and accompanying outflow boundary, which prompted the Weather Service to issue a special weather statement, headed toward Mountain Home.

The storm heading toward Boise arrived in the city right around 5 p.m., Weather Service meteorologist Sophia Adams told the Idaho Statesman, just in time to affect the afternoon commute. She said the hills would likely slow the storm down, meaning it could mostly dissipate before reaching the city.

But the storm persisted over the Foothills, bringing wind gusts up to 40 mph and some hail, causing power problems.

Adams said the Weather Service also was tracking the potential for the storm to train — a phenomenon in which storms behind the original storm continue to form because of outflow boundaries. A similar system occurred during Tuesday night’s storms, dropping nearly 2 inches of rain in Boise and wreaking havoc on roads, garages, buildings and the like.

As of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Adams said there was about a 50% chance of the storms training again. But by 7 p.m., the skies had lightened greatly and the wind had died down.