A series of thunderstorms hit the Treasure Valley on Tuesday evening, bringing with them a record number of lightning strikes.
Over a 24-hour period, Ada County saw 195 lightning strikes, a record for May 28. It was the third-highest number of strikes detected in the county for any day since the National Weather Service in Boise began keeping records in 2000.
“We had a series of thunderstorms move right over the city and drop down a lot of cloud-to-ground lightning,” said Korri Anderson, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise. “That’s pretty unusual for it to be that many strikes around the city.”
Tuesday’s storms, which included a severe thunderstorm warning for northwest portions of Ada County, knocked out power for more than 2,700 customers in the Boise area as they rattled the Treasure Valley.
The National Weather Service said one station near the Boise Airport had .73 inches of rain, while another on the west side of the airport saw just .28 inches.
A 53-mph wind gust was reported at the Meridian Road interchange on Interstate 84, according to the weather service. There were also downed trees on the Boise Bench, and New Plymouth saw street flooding.
The most lightning strikes in Ada County over a 24-hour period was 403 on June 6, 2023. The second-most was 250 in August 2009. There have been only 19 days on record with more than 100 lightning strikes, Anderson said.
Source Agencies
