September has been hot and smoky in Boise. Is any relief on the way?
Temperatures are about to cool off in Boise after a hot start to September.
It’s been a milder summer than recent years, with only five days above 100 degrees before this month, according to National Weather Service Boise Meteorologist Jackson Macfarlane. Idaho’s fire season was less active than last year, too, he said, thanks to lots of rain falling across the state.
Then Boise hit 100 degrees twice in September, marking just the third September since 1875 to achieve that feat, according to the National Weather Service. Some fires also started recently, like the Rock Fire near Tamarack Resort, and smoke has infiltrated the Treasure Valley. As of Friday morning, the air quality was on the upper edge of moderate.
“We started our drying and warming up very late into the summer,” Macfarlane said by phone. “This September, we had that pretty strong heat wave for this time of year.”
That will change in the coming days.
This weekend, Boise will be on the edge of a low-pressure system, which means a slightly higher chance of thunderstorms and a relief from the smoke starting Sunday, Macfarlane said. As the system moves in, thunderstorm chances in Boise jump higher from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening.
Temperatures will drop from a high today of 93 into the 70s by next week, Macfarlane said.
“The lower pressure is going to push in colder air whether or not we get the precipitation to help really bring it down,” Macfarlane said. “It might be a few degrees warmer if we don’t get the thunderstorms, but overall we should still be looking at 70s by next week.”
