Lightning, hail, heavy rain hit Boise area, causing flooding, emergency declarations
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Boise metro area Friday night, and for good reason.
With winds surpassing 50 miles per hour, lightning, hail and more than 1 inch of rain in some areas, county agencies were sent scrambling to clean up in the aftermath.
The Canyon County Board of Commissioners declared a countywide disaster emergency to address “widespread damage across portions of the county,” while Ada County Highway District employees were working through the night to address flooding and other roadway hazards.
“It was small hail, but there was an awful lot of it,” said lead meteorologist Josh Smith of the Boise-based National Weather Service. “Even some of our employees that were in northwest Meridian said they had several inches of small hail on the ground.
“That probably led to some of the flooding issues with some of those neighborhoods because all that melted off quickly and the drains weren’t able to handle it in addition to the inch-plus rain that we received.”
The National Weather Service said it received reports of more than an inch of rain in multiple cities around the Treasure Valley. Some of the highest amounts were in Homedale (1.54), Greenleaf (1.47) and Caldwell (1.13).
Another report about 4 miles northwest of Boise recorded 1.19 inches of rain, and 1.20 inches were reported north of Garden City, NWS said.
The Boise Police Department posted photos to its Facebook page Friday night showing flooding on multiple roadways, and urged drivers to use caution. The Nampa and Caldwell police departments warned of standing water on roadways, too.
Lightning also played a major part in Friday’s storms. Ada County recorded 100 strikes, according to the National Weather Service, while Canyon County saw 51 strikes. Owyhee County was inundated with 553 lightning strikes.
For context, the 100 strikes in Ada County are the second-most recorded on a single day in June since 2000, Smith said.
The two strongest wind gusts in the area Friday night were recorded in Caldwell (53 mph) and at the Boise Airport (51), but Smith said many areas saw gusts between 40 and 45 mph.
The unsettled weather is expected to continue Saturday and Sunday. Rain fell again in the Valley on Saturday morning, and the National Weather Service expects more showers and potential thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Showers are expected to move in from the north Sunday, bringing colder rain and possible snow to the mountains above 6,000 feet, according to NWS.
The National Weather Service also said a flood advisory remains in effect through 7:30 p.m. Mountain time because of thunderstorms in Parma, Wilder, Greenleaf and Adrian, Ore.
The Payette County Sheriff’s Office reported on its Facebook page Friday night that major flooding on Highway 95 in multiple locations between Payette and Fruitland forced multiple road closures in Payette County. There were also mudslides along Highway 52 between NE 10th Avenue and Memorial Park near New Plymouth, the sheriff’s office said.
This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Lightning, hail, heavy rain hit Boise area, causing flooding, emergency declarations."
