Hold on to your hats, Boise. Monday to bring ‘damaging, dangerous’ winds up to 50 mph
The Treasure Valley is in for a windy Labor Day, according to the local branch of the National Weather Service, and gusts could prove to be hazardous.
The Weather Service issued a high wind warning for much of southern Idaho beginning late Monday afternoon into the evening. The warning includes Ada and Elmore counties, as well as the Magic Valley. The rest of the Treasure Valley, including Canyon County and eastern Oregon, is under a wind advisory.
National Weather Service meteorologist Les Colin said the wind will start to pick up in Boise about 4 p.m., with 30 mph sustained winds and gusts reaching 50 mph. To the east in Mountain Home and Bruneau, sustained winds will be about 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. Colin said the winds will be blowing northeast and should start to subside around sunset.
“We need to emphasize this is not a typical windy day in Idaho — this is a very strong back-door cold front — bringing in a surge of cold Canadian northerly air,” the Pocatello branch of the Weather Service posted Sunday on Facebook. “Winds from a strong northerly direction in September are exceedingly atypical.”
The agency warned that the “damaging, dangerous” winds are expected to cause power outages and could bring down trees. Strong gusts and blowing debris pose potential travel hazards.
The cold front will usher in cooler temperatures for the rest of the week, with Tuesday’s high temperature in the upper 60s and Wednesday morning potentially dipping into the 30s, Colin said. Eastern Idaho might see some early snow showers. Temperatures will warm up through the week, returning to the high 80s or low 90s by next weekend.
“Temperatures won’t cool down again in near future, so this is an early preview of fall,” Colin said.
