textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Strong winds continue through Saturday

- Periods of light mountain snow will persist through Saturday, primarily above 6000 ft, leading to occasional winter travel conditions on a few area passes.

- A major warming trend arrives next week. Valley temperatures will likely reach the 70s by mid week, and some areas could see 80 degree highs.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1208 AM MDT Fri Mar 13 2026

The wind machine remains activated through the next 48 hours. Winds will be lighter today, with gusts 25-35 mph common across the area. Higher gusts today will be in the 35-50 mph range, across higher elevations and most of the Snake Plain and Magic Valley. We have a WIND ADVISORY for the Snake Plain from late morning through around sunset. We will see a break in the wind tonight, but still expect it to be breezy. Winds will slowly ramp up in the morning, with them peaking in the afternoon. We may see winds in some areas a bit subdued in the morning despite strong winds off the surface increasing, and the pressure gradient tightening. This due to clouds and showers holding things up a bit. If we can get clearing earlier in the day, expect high winds sooner. Widespread gusts of 30-55 mph are forecast. Gusts up to 65 mph are expected across the Snake Plain, Magic Valley, adjacent bench areas, South Hills/Albion Mountains, and central mountains. There is a 20-40% chance of exceeding 75 mph across portions of the central mountains, the South Hills/Albion Mountains. We will definitely need another round of WIND ADVISORIES and HIGH WIND WARNINGS for Saturday. We will hold off until later today to see how we want to arrange those headlines. As the low races southeast, winds will quickly turn northwest but remain pretty strong until after midnight.

We are still watching some light precipitation falling across portions of the central mountains and eastern highlands. Most of this is falling across the Sawtooths and surrounding ranges, mountains around Island Park into Yellowstone and Tetons. We will see an uptick tomorrow as the low races across our area, but nothing too outlandish in any give 6 hour period. We did decrease some of the precipitation amounts across the central mountains, as higher resolution models were producing unrealistic amounts even with a strong upslope component for higher ridgelines. We will need to watch tomorrow night as we will see a convergence band race south, along and east of I-15. Additional precipitation amounts of 0.20-0.50" are possible in the eastern and southeast highlands. Higher amounts are possible along the Wyoming border into the Tetons. The bulk of the moisture in the central mountains falls from Galena Summit north and west, where 0.40-1.0" is forecast. There is a 10-30% chance of over 1.0" to fall across highest peaks and ridgelines. Additional snowfall will be light, although along the spine of the Sawtooths and Salmon River Mountains another 12+" is possible.

By Sunday, a strong ridge builds over the West, leading to high confidence in a sharp warming trend starting Monday. There is a 55% chance of reaching 70 degrees for highs across the Snake Plain by Tuesday, and at least a 45% chance of reaching 80 degrees south and west of Blackfoot by Wednesday and Thursday. Daily record highs will likely be challenged starting Tuesday.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 426 AM MDT Fri Mar 13 2026

The main issue today again is the wind, albeit weaker vs Thursday. Gusts at BYI, IDA, and PIH are expected to push 30-40kts this afternoon. For DIJ, we are expecting 20-30kts during the same period. We might see some showers around the airport, so we will maintain VCSH in the latest forecast. At SUN, we will see west to southwest winds this afternoon gusting 10-20kts at times. Showers should shift north away from the airport during the day.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 9 PM MDT this evening for IDZ052>054-065.