Is this the end of summer? Cold front sweeps into Boise; here’s how much cooler it’ll get
August is yet to come to a close, but Boise was set to wave goodbye to blazing-hot summer weather from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday.
A cold front, which had already passed through Washington and Oregon, was expected to sweep over Boise on Tuesday afternoon. The drop in temperature wasn’t immediate for Boise, with Tuesday’s forecast high peaking at 93 degrees late in the afternoon, but once the temperature started dropping, it was expected to tumble fast.
The temperature was expected to drop to 54 degrees in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service, and it’ll only rebound to a high of 75 later in the day.
“As far as I can see out right now, we don’t get into the 90s again,” Weather Service meteorologist Korri Anderson told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday. “It looks like today is our last day.”
Is Boise starting fall weather?
Temperatures may depart from the sweltering days of summer, but Boise residents can at least still enjoy nice weather through Labor Day weekend.
Highs throughout the Treasure Valley will rebound to the low 80s by the weekend. While that’s still a couple of degrees below normal — Boise averages 85 degrees in early September — it’s still warm enough to fire up the grill one last time.
By the end of September, the average high temperature in Boise is typically 74 degrees.
But it’s a slightly different story for those heading to the mountains for a final camping trip before fall.
While highs in the state’s mountainous regions will climb into the 70s this week, the low temperatures will be much more fall-like. Stanley will see a low temperature of 28 degrees Wednesday night, and the low temperature doesn’t look likely to top out over 40 again for the rest of the year.
A rainy Labor Day weekend for some
It’s not just low temperatures that mountain-goers will have to endure. The cold front that’s moving through Tuesday will bring severe thunderstorms to Idaho’s mountains, according to the Weather Service.
The weather will calm down in the latter part of the week before another storm system moves through over the weekend, bringing more chances for thunderstorms at higher elevations.
Boise will also have a chance of seeing showers over the weekend, but the Weather Service forecasts just a 20-30% chance for the region.
“It’s looking like Friday, Saturday and Sunday over Central and Southern Idaho will have some showers and thunderstorms around the area,” Anderson said. “It’s going to be pretty unsettled pretty much over the whole weekend.”
The Climate Prediction Center, an extension of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, forecasts that the pattern of near-to-below-average temperatures throughout Idaho will continue for at least two more weeks.
Boise could also see slightly above-average rainfall, according to the CPC. This is coming off the back of a record month of rainfall, in which Boise saw 2.51 inches of rain in August, beating the previous record of 2.37 inches set in 1968.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 12:40 PM.
