Boise, ID Tornado

In the afternoon of January 17th, 2023, Boise was expecting severe storms southwest of them. Around this time, 3 cells formed into one storm in the nearby county of Elmore. Almost immediately, the storm gained intensity and grew to the size of Chicago. The NWS the day before said there was a significant chance for a EF2 and above to form. With the heat that Idaho already got, it was perfect for this storm to form.

Along this time, a tornado formed in easter Elmore county. The tornado quickly gained strength, turning into an EF2 near Mountain Home. It hit Mountain Home around 2:47, causing significant damage to mobile homes. 3 people died when the tornado threw a tree into a Burger King. At this time, the now EF3 ripped the roof off of | West Elementary School, and continued until it reached Interstate 84 around 2:56. It caused EF4 damage there when houses with good foundations were leveled. At this time, 7 cars were thrown into the air as the tornado continued down Interstate 84. From that, 9 people died when their cars exploded on ground contact. The now EF4 moved into Boise. The EF4 caused significant damage to houses. It continued to ravage the city before heading west into Canyon County. Once there, it caused damage to farms and small towns, leveling them completely. Around 3:03, it was rated an EF5 when a hospital sustained major damage. 12 people died.

Around 3:05, the tornado degraded to EF4 when a house was leveled. One man died there. It continued to degrade, while destroying small towns along the way. It eventually died off in west Washington around 3:32 PM MST. It was rated EF5 when towns along Boise sustained major damage. Houses in Boise were swept away. In one case, an entire slab was moved and thrown into a car lot. 16 cars were damaged or destroyed. Although many buildings were severely damaged, people listened to the warning and got to safety before it hit their house. In all, 24 people died. The damage surveyors were surprised to see that multiple animals survived, including 3 pets. 2 people were critically injured when their car exploded.

In all, it's the worst disaster Idaho has ever seen in a long time.