Rain, hail, a funnel cloud — what’s next?
The area has seen some intense weather in the last few weeks, with heavy precipitation sending us close to monthly averages just one week into June
Hail the size of limes, 50 mph wind gusts, as much as 2 inches of rain in some spots and one funnel cloud — Sunday’s weather had it all.
A string of thunderstorms barreled out of the Blue Mountains on the east side of Oregon and Washington before sweeping north and east over Idaho.
Lewiston and Clarkston received just short of a half inch of rain. That’s more than a third of the monthly average for June. And most of it fell in less than an hour. A storm that hit between 5 and 6 p.m. dropped nearly four-tenths of an inch of rain on Lewiston-Clarkston valley, according to Steven Van Horn of the National Weather Service at Spokane.
Meteorologists used radar to estimate as much as 1.5 to 2 inches of rain fell in some areas of the Blues. Panjab Campground and the 4713 Road flooded when debris from last summer’s Green Ridge Fire choked the rain-swollen Tucannon River. The road and campground are temporarily closed, according to Umatilla National Forest spokeswoman Darcy Weseman. Forest officials closed the nearby Lady Bug Campground and 4712 Road last week because of flooding caused by logs jams on the river.
Van Horn said 2-inch diameter hail, about the size of limes, was reported near Kamiah, and hail as big pingpong balls, about 1.5 inches in diameter, was seen near Uniontown. Near Spalding, hail the size of quarters was reported and reports of nickel-sized hail were recorded in several locations.
“We had a report of funnel cloud southeast of Moscow around 4:30 p.m. with one of those storms that tracked kind of through Uniontown,” Van Horn said. “It didn’t reach the ground so it was not a tornado.”
Minor flooding and wind damage was recorded in several areas, including Clarkston and the Clarkston Heights.
On Average, Lewiston receives about 1.25 inches of rain in the month of June, but Van Horn said 1.1 inches had been reported through Sunday. Isolated thunderstorms and showers delivered more precipitation Monday. Van Horn said the rain will back off for the middle of the week but the chance of precipitation climb on Friday and through the weekend.
After spiking sharply upward at the end of May, area rivers were on the slow decline before shooting up again with recent storms. The Clearwater River at Spalding jumped from about 60,000 cubic feet per second Sunday to nearly 70,000 on Monday. The lower Salmon River at White Bird had dropped to about 42,000 cfs on Thursday but climbed to 55,000 by Monday.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
