Traveling for Thanksgiving? Watch out for snow, high winds in the Boise area
The Boise branch of the National Weather Service on Monday warned that a “powerful winter storm” could snarl Thanksgiving plans across Southwest Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
The NWS issued multiple warnings and advisories for the region, including a high-wind watch for the Treasure Valley, a winter storm warning for the Boise mountains and a winter storm watch for much of far-west Idaho.
The bulk of the snow is expected to fall in the mountains, but NWS meteorologist Dave Groenert told the Statesman that Boise might see a smattering of snow.
“At this point, it’s looking like it would come in Wednesday morning,” Groenert said, predicting that any Boise snowfall would be less than an inch.
Groenert said that snow would taper into a rain/snow mix or pure rain by Wednesday afternoon. Boise will instead be hit hardest by wind, with gusts up to 55 mph on Tuesday night.
The mountains around Idaho City and Lowman could see as much as 4 inches of snow by Wednesday evening, while the forecast in the McCall area calls for up to 2 inches. The Wood River Valley will be hit especially hard, with Hailey potentially seeing 14 to 18 inches of snow.
Groenert said anyone traveling for Thanksgiving should try to hit the road ahead of the Wednesday snow.
“Any travel out of the area over any mountain passes during the day Wednesday is going to be snowy,” he said. “If you can get out early Tuesday, I think that’s your best chance (to avoid the snow).”
Thanks to the high winds, there’s the likelihood that snow will be blowing across mountain passes, creating further visibility issues.
By Thursday, most of the precipitation will be over, but Groenert said temperatures will plummet in the wake of the storm. The Treasure Valley can expect high temperatures in the mid- to upper 30s on Thursday and in the upper 20s on Friday.
