329 FXUS65 KPIH 211730 AFDPIHArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 1130 AM MDT Sun Sep 21 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Showers and thunderstorms likely today
- Some storms may produce gusty winds and moderate to heavy rainfall
- Cooler temperature Monday before warming back up mid to late week
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.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 1254 AM MDT Sun Sep 21 2025
Early morning satellite imagery shows a complex of clouds along the borders of Idaho, Nevada and Utah slowly spiraling up into the south hills region. Radar returns have been generally void of anything of significance but hi-res CAMs show this activity increasing in coverage an intensity later this morning as is pushes through the central part of the forecast area. Showers, maybe some thunderstorms, will be possible with this during the overnight but more likely just beyond daybreak as upper level dynamics become a bit more favorable. Meanwhile to our NW, an upper level trough will push south into the northern part of the state later today pushing a frontal boundary through the area later tonight and into Monday. What does this mean for sensible weather across the region? Well, it looks like things will be rather cloudy today with widespread shower and storm chances. The highest PoPs are focused across the higher terrain but the lower valleys will not be exempt from precipitation either. Given the convective (hit-or-miss) nature of the precip, some folks will see some decent rain today while others will not and it`s difficult to pinpoint exactly where that`ll be. What is more certain is that the day will be mostly cloudy to cloudy across the region which will keep temperatures a touch cooler than Saturday. Valley temps from the low to upper 70s are expected with 60s in the higher terrain. Not expecting too much of a severe threat today but HREF does show about a 30-50 percent probability of storms producing gusts in excess of 40 mph, with the highest probability focused across the Magic Valley/South Hills where instability looks to be a bit more favorable. Post frontal passage look for cooler temperatures as we move into Monday.
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.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 130 PM MDT Sat Sep 20 2025
Showers and storms persist through Monday evening over the eastern half of our area. It does appear that as the winds switch to a northerly direction, a convergence band develops and impacts the northern half of the Snake Plain and into the eastern highlands. Rainfall amounts look lighter, but we still could see some localized moderate rainfall rates and accumulation. Monday will be much cooler with northerly flow and cooler air briefly spilling into eastern Idaho. Highs may barely push 70 in some spots. Dry weather returns for the middle part of next week. We are still looking to see if a low cutting through the ridge ends up far enough north for a chance of showers and thunderstorms...especially along the Utah border. The Blend of Models is trending drier although not necessarily indicating there is NO CHANCE. Both the GFS and ECMWF do indicate we could see some clouds and at least a slight chance of rain and thunder. We shall see what happens in a few days.
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.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1130 AM MDT Sun Sep 21 2025
Broad swath of light to moderate RA shifting northeast through East Idaho, tailing off at PIH, impacting IDA, and shifting toward DIJ as of 17Z. Pockets of IFR exist within the rain, but CIGS generally MVFR or better. To the west and south, better instability exists, and seeing isolated SHRA/TS development. Have trended based on radar timing, and maintained PROB30 TS for this afternoon and early evening, though there is a little bit of a confidence question, as the rainfall and cloud cover may limit afternoon instability. ISO TS may also continue past current PROB30 periods, particularly for PIH, IDA, and DIJ as upper feature moves through, followed by secondary round of SHRA overnight. DIJ holds on to SHRA through most of the current TAF period, but should see precip trending off after 12Z.
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.FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1254 AM MDT Sun Sep 21 2025
Will begin to see an increase in showers and storms across the southern portion of the area during the overnight and early morning hours. By the afternoon, showers and thunderstorms increase in coverage across the region. Scattered to numerous showers and isolated to scattered thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon and evening. Wetting rain chances have risen to 45-70% for all higher elevation zones outside the Snake Plain for the 12-hr period from noon to midnight. Coupled with the increased daytime humidity for today, critical fire conditions are NOT expected. The thunderstorm coverage decreases after sunset, but showers and isolated thunderstorms continue, shifting focus to the eastern half of the region overnight into the first part of the day Monday. Drier air mass shifts into place for late Monday through the rest of the week as a ridge of high pressure builds into the western states. Things look to remain dry into next weekend with above normal temperatures likely to continue aside from a brief cooldown on Monday and Tuesday.
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.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None.
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SHORT TERM...McKaughan LONG TERM...Keyes AVIATION...DMH FIRE WEATHER...McKaughan
NWS PIH Office Area Forecast Discussion