West Coast weather, potential ‘bomb cyclone’ expected to affect Idaho this week
A potential bomb cyclone continues to intensify over the Pacific Ocean, and will impact much of the weather around the Pacific Northwest this week. While coastal states like Washington and Oregon will bear the brunt of the storm, Idaho is expected to feel the effects as well, according to Korri Anderson, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Boise.
“The main energy of that will be kind of off the Pacific Northwest coast. So it’s not going to be as strong here, but we’re going to have windy conditions here and we’ll see rain and snow,” Anderson said in an interview.
Will a bomb cyclone hit Boise?
The storm is expected to impact Washington beginning the afternoon on Tuesday, Nov. 19, according to the NWS.
A low-pressure system is moving south along the Gulf of Alaska, which is expected to grow tomorrow as it makes contact with the West Coast, according to the weather service.
“That (storm) is going to strengthen tomorrow off the coast and bring a powerful storm to Vancouver Island, the Oregon and Washington coasts. It’ll bring a lot of heavy precipitation to Northern California, southwest Oregon,” Anderson said. “Then we’ll have a little piece of that, but it’s not the full brunt of it.”
Idaho can expect some showers on Wednesday, but Anderson expects most of it will be north of Boise and in the mountains. However, there might be more windy conditions.
Snow forecast for Idaho
The forecast for the rest of the week for Boise is expected to get gradually warmer, with an increasing chance of light snowfall as well.
While it is expected to be dry on Tuesday with a high of 42 degrees and a low of 32 degrees, there is a 40% chance of snow showers during the evening into Wednesday morning. The weather service expects the snowfall to be a light dusting.
As that next system moves into Idaho on Wednesday, a high of 45 degrees and low of 40 degrees is predicted. There is a 40% chance of light snow during the morning, but it is expected to shift towards rain in the afternoon. The National Weather Service shows between a tenth and a quarter inch of rain is possible.
The warmer air comes in on Thursday, with a high of 49 degrees and a low of 43. The forecast shows an 80% chance of rain throughout the day. It will raise snow levels to approximately 8,000 feet, and so it may rain even on the mountain tops late in the week, according to NWS. Throughout the day, NWS showed to expect between a fifth and a half inch of rain.
The forecast on Friday includes a high of 54 degrees and a 50% chance of rain.
This story was originally published November 18, 2024 at 2:47 PM.
