Hurricane moisture in Boise? It’s coming, and could bring thunderstorms to Idaho next week
Hurricanes and Idaho don’t usually go hand-in-hand, but hurricane moisture will bring storms to the Gem State early next week.
Hurricane Kay has been skimming the California coast this week and has already caused hurricane warnings for the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. The eye of the hurricane was about 85 miles west of Cabo San Lazaro on the southern half of the peninsula on Thursday morning, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center expects outer bands of the storm to bring heavy rain and flash flooding to southern California and Arizona.
Although Idaho won’t feel the full brunt of the hurricane, the moisture released from the system could travel as far north as the Treasure Valley, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Spencer Tangen.
“It looks like (Kay) will start sending moisture into the west by early next week,” Tangen told the Idaho Statesman on Thursday. “And then we’ll have a system also that will interact with that moisture and produce a chance of showers and thunderstorms starting on Monday, but increasing on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
The system that Tangen references is currently sitting off the coast of Oregon but will interact with the moisture from Hurricane Kay and move inland, creating storms.
Tangen said that it’s too early to predict how much rain there will be, but depending on whether there are heavy thunderstorms or widespread rain showers, some areas could get lots of rain while other areas not as much.
Smoky and cooler weekend
Before the hurricane’s moisture arrives, Boise will enjoy cooler temperatures but smoky skies throughout the weekend.
Boise recorded its highest-ever temperature in September on Wednesday at 104 degrees, breaking the previous record high of 102, which was set in 1945, 2020, and 2022 just last Saturday.
But Boise may finally be done with the 100-degree heat. The City of Trees hit the triple-digit mark an unprecedented 27 times this summer, blowing the previous record of 20 days in 2003 out of the water.
The Weather Service forecasts the high temperature for Friday to be 82 degrees, and it’ll only get to 93 degrees on Sunday before dropping again.
“I don’t think we’ll hit 100 degrees anymore this year,” Tangen said. “Boise’s record latest 100-degree day is September 14, (2000). I definitely don’t see it getting that warm between now and then, so it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll see temperatures above 100 after that point.”
Even though Boise is finally escaping the heat, it won’t escape the wildfire smoke just yet.
More smoke is expected to cloud the Treasure Valley on Friday as smoke from the Double Creek and Nebo Fires in Oregon and the Ten Mile Fire in Idaho will blow into the region.
A live fire and smoke map can be viewed at fire.airnow.gov.
