41
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$1.1M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Kootenai County, Idaho: 41 recorded events between 1968 and 2024. The strongest on record measured 65. That places the county #2,795 nationally and #25 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Kootenai County, Idaho: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Kootenai County is the 2000s, when 16 of the county's 41 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Kootenai County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 30.6% of all recorded severe weather across 10 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,795 for this hazard and #25 within Idaho, putting it in the 11.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Kootenai County with 14 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2004 | (COE)COEUR D'ALENE A | 50 | 0 | 2 | $5K |
| May 20, 2002 | RATHDRUM | 0 | 0 | 2 | $15K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2024 | COEUR D ALENE | 47 | $2K |
| Jul 24, 2019 | LANE | 56 | $1K |
| Aug 13, 2014 | CONKLING PARK | 52 | $1K |
| Aug 3, 2014 | STATE LINE VLG | 50 | $50K |
| Mar 14, 2014 | RATHDRUM | 48 | $500 |
| Jul 20, 2012 | DUDLEY | 54 | $1K |
| Jul 20, 2012 | ROSE LAKE | 52 | $1K |
| Jul 20, 2012 | CONKLING PARK | 54 | $2K |
| Aug 29, 2011 | WORLEY | 48 | $300K |
| Jul 13, 2009 | WORLEY | 57 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A microburst was thought to be responsible for snapping twenty consecutive power poles between the Setters substation and Highway 95 along Setters Road. It is inconclusive whether the initial wind gust snapped only a few poles or was the direct cause for damaging all the poles. It is speculated that a few poles broke in response to the microburst resulting in a domino effect to the remaining poles due to the absence of additional damage in the area.
Coeur D Alene Press reported that thunderstorms brought high winds and downed trees across portions of Post Falls, Hayden, Spirit Lake, and northern Coeur D'Alene. The Stateline Speedway and several other businesses on Pleasant View Road lost power and were forced to cancel the Idaho 200 race. The storm and strong winds also sparked a quick grass fire causing Love's Travel Center to evacuate. The storm was also blamed for a house fire on Cimmaron Street in Post Falls and another one at Fir and 13th Street caused by downed power lines.
On the evening of the 21st, a severe thunderstorm gust front moved across Kootenai County at around 715pm to about 815pm PST. The hardest hit towns were Post Falls and Rathdrum. In the town of Post Falls, many large trees were down along with about 10,000 homes without power. There were a few homes damaged by the winds. The town of Rathdrum had about 200 homes without power and trees down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Kootenai County, Idaho?
41 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Kootenai County between 1968 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Kootenai County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Kootenai County measured 65.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Kootenai County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Kootenai County, Idaho.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/idaho/kootenai-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.