Gallery: Windstorm barrels over power poles and trees near Blackfoot Friday - East Idaho News
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Gallery: Windstorm barrels over power poles and trees near Blackfoot Friday

  Published at  | Updated at
David Pace

David Pace, EastIdahoNews.com

Five power poles blew over near Taber. | Courtesy Jose Enedina via National Weather Service
Power poles toppled over in a Friday windstorm in Taber near Blackfoot. | Courtesy Jose Enedina via National Weather Service
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Gusts exceeding 50 miles an hour uprooted trees and blew over power poles in the Blackfoot region Friday evening.

The damage started at about 5:52 p.m. in Taber and moved from the northwest to the southeast through Rockford, Moreland and into Blackfoot until 7:15 p.m.

“We had the five power poles down up in Taber, but also we had a power outage that covered most of the Blackfoot area,” Kevin Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Pocatello office, said.

The outage affected about 7,700 Idaho Power customers, he reported.

Most of the electricity was restored between 8:30 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Power lines also went down near Moreland and Blackfoot, and one home lost a large number of shingles.

Weather stations recorded speeds of 59 miles an hour one mile southwest of Gibson, 53 miles an hour three miles west of Taber and 40 miles an hour in Blackfoot.

“Yesterday we had a very dry, low-level environment here in southeast Idaho that’s conducive to strong outflow winds, you know, strong winds coming out of showers and thunderstorms. We saw some activity throughout the day,” Smith said.

The National Weather Service is still calculating an estimate of the total financial damages caused by the high winds.

No injuries, fatalities or major structural damage were reported from the storm.

A pine tree was uprooted by the wind during Friday's storm. | Courtesy Brittany Ann Carlson
A pine tree was uprooted by the wind during Friday’s storm. | Courtesy Brittany Ann Carlson via National Weather Service
A big pine tree fell over in south Blackfoot. | Courtesy Jenny Collier via National Weather Service
A large pine tree fell over in south Blackfoot. | Courtesy Jenny Collier via National Weather Service
Tree limbs bury a swing set in Blackfoot. | Courtesy Taylor Peterson
Tree limbs bury a swing set in Blackfoot. | Courtesy Taylor Peterson via National Weather Service
Another tree blown over during Friday's windstorm. | Courtesy Melody White via National Weather Service
Another tree blown over during Friday’s windstorm. | Courtesy Melody White via National Weather Service
Tree damage is evident at Blackfoot High School. | Courtesy Lisa Clark via National Weather Service
Tree damage is evident at Blackfoot High School. | Courtesy Lisa Clark via National Weather Service
The wind ripped the singles off of this home. | Courtesy Christine Jackson via National Weather Service
The wind ripped the singles off of this home. | Courtesy Christine Jackson via National Weather Service

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