BOISE — The National Weather Service is still sorting out the data, but Thursday’s storm is already being considered among the strongest ever recorded in the Treasure Valley for the month of May.
A 72 mph wind gust occurred at 3:50 p.m. about 4 miles east of Kuna, according to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center. Further west, an 80 mph wind gust was recorded by a mesonet station in Riley, Oregon.
“Sustained winds were on the order of 45 mph Thursday,” Les Colin, meteorologist at NWS Boise, told the Idaho Press. “The conditions were right for a storm, but an upper-air disturbance from Nevada provided the extra ingredient of strong winds aloft to help draw the air upward. That upward motion fortifies thunderstorms.”…