Rain-starved Boise could see thunderstorms and high winds on Monday. Here are our chances
If intense heat and smoky air isn’t intense enough for you, Boise, how about some thunderstorms?
The National Weather Service in Boise forecasts a 30% chance of thunderstorms on Monday evening. The chance for storms comes amid a long dry stretch in which the city has seen just 0.01 inches of rain in July and no substantial rain since 0.4 inches fell on June 3.
“It will probably be pretty similar to (Sunday), is what we’re thinking right now,” Weather Service meteorologist Sophia Adams told the Idaho Statesman on Monday. “We’ll have scattered showers and thunderstorms; not expecting a ton of rain with these.”
Boise’s chance for thunderstorms, wind
On Sunday, storms popped up in eastern Oregon and southwest Idaho. Although not much rain moved into the Treasure Valley, gusty winds and dark skies characterized the evening.
Adams said an outflow boundary — the part of a storm that pushes high winds toward the surface — in eastern Oregon was recorded to produce wind gusts as high as 49 mph. In response, the Oregon Department of Transportation closed a portion of Interstate 84 as smoke from the Durkee Fire was pushed across the highway and reduced visibility.
Similar winds may occur across the area on Monday evening. Alexa Valladolid, public information officer with the Incident Management Team working on the Durkee Fire, told the Statesman further highway closures may occur on Monday and Tuesday as the wind continues to blow wildfire smoke.
Meanwhile, Adams said she expects winds in Idaho on Monday to reach up to 55 mph, while the Treasure Valley will likely see wind gusts between 30 and 40 mph.
But the storms won’t be widespread. Like Sunday, the Weather Service expects Monday’s storm system to feature “isolated showers.” The Weather Service gives a 20% chance of any part of Boise seeing storms on Monday afternoon and a 30% chance in the evening. There’s also no specific timeline of when the storms could hit, but it will be between noon and midnight.
“We are expecting a higher chance (of storms) near the southern portions of Eastern Oregon and near the Idaho-Nevada borders,” Adams said. “And also over portions of west-central Idaho.”
More records and lower temperatures
Boise has been toying with temperature records all week, and another record almost fell in the early hours of Monday morning.
The low temperature in Boise on Sunday night into Monday morning was 82 degrees. The only other time the overnight low temperature was as high was on July 25, 1891, when the overnight low was 83 degrees, according to Weather Service meteorologist Les Colin.
Boise is also barreling toward a new record for consecutive days above 100 degrees.
Once the temperature hits 100 degrees on Monday, it will mark the seventh straight day that the City of Trees has reached the three-digit mark. With temperatures forecast to hit at least 100 degrees every day through Thursday before temperatures drop, Boise could see 10 straight days reaching 100 degrees — the current record is nine consecutive days, set on four occasions, including in July 2023.
But come Friday, Boise will finally return to more bearable temperatures.
“There’s going to be a low-pressure system that’ll be moving in from the Pacific Ocean, and that’ll begin the breakdown of the upper-level ridge,” Adams said. “We’re expecting a pretty high chance of showers and thunderstorms with that as well.”
Cooler air starts to move into Boise on Wednesday night and Thursday. The forecasted daytime high on Friday is 93 degrees, while the low temperatures on Friday and Saturday are predicted to drop to a comfortable 63 degrees.
