It’s going to remain toasty in Boise this week, but could midweek storms cool things down?
This past weekend, Boise temperatures surpassed 100 degrees for the first time in 2024. The National Weather Service recorded a temperature of 102 degrees just before 6 p.m. Saturday.
The heat is set to stick around for at least a few more days as temperatures sit more than 10 degrees above average compared to typical for late June.
“We have a high-pressure area that is centered over the southwestern U.S. and the southern U.S.,” Weather Service meteorologist Bill Wojcik told the Idaho Statesman on Monday. “We’re in a southwest flow. So it’s sending up some of that warm air to the area from the desert southwest where it’s been hot.”
But it won’t remain this hot all week; there’s even a chance for thunderstorms midweek. Here’s what to know about Boise’s roller coaster weather this week.
A hot start to the week
Temperatures have dipped slightly from Saturday’s high of 102 degrees, but the Weather Service still forecasts a high of 98 on Tuesday and 96 on Wednesday.
Wojcik said the hot air being pushed up from the southwest provides Boise with weather that resembles mid-summer more than the usual early-summer temperatures in June.
The Weather Service predicts a 45% chance of hitting 100 degrees on Tuesday and a 40% chance on Wednesday.
Midweek storms and a cool-off
The skies may be blue in Boise early in the week but may not remain that way.
Along with the low-pressure system pulling up warm air from the south, it’s also pulling up warm moisture, Wojcik told the Statesman. In addition to the system south of Idaho, a separate low-pressure system is approaching Boise from the Washington coast.
The Washington coast system is pulling in moisture from the Pacific Ocean, and that mixture of moisture and warm air from the south will spark thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon.
The Weather Service forecasts a chance of storms for Boise, mainly after noon Thursday. Wojcik said most of the storms will remain to Boise’s west, and there’s only about a 20% chance of thunderstorms in the City of Trees, but that forecast may change as we get closer to Wednesday.
The low-pressure system from the northwest will also bring a cold front through the Gem State, dropping temperatures to 82 degrees Thursday and 84 degrees Friday. Both temperatures are slightly below but within the normal range for late June.
“The low-pressure system off the coast tracks right through Washington state and the southern Canadian border and then through that Idaho Panhandle,” Wojcik said. “As it moves across, it will send a cold front through us and bring those temperatures down temporarily.”
Warming back up for the weekend
Fortunately, if you’ve got weekend plans, the rain and ‘cooler’ temperatures won’t last long.
The Weather Service forecasts a high of 96 degrees Saturday and 90 degrees Sunday.
Once the northern low-pressure system and cold front move out, Idaho will again receive warm temperatures from the southerly weather system.
The heat will also likely stick around for the long term. The Climate Prediction Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, predicts that Boise will have a 40-50% chance of above-average temperatures and a 50-60% chance of below-average rainfall over the next month.
What does that mean for Boise? Temperatures over the next month will likely remain in the 90s or higher, while rainfall will probably be less than the historical average of 0.21 inches for July.
This story was originally published June 24, 2024 at 12:53 PM.
