textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Gusty northerly winds diminishing later on today

- Best chance of precipitation today across the southeast corner

- Frost/freeze conditions through at least midweek before temperatures begin warming up

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1209 AM MDT Monday May 18 2026

Strong low pressure will continue slowly churn to our south and east today. This will keep a persistent area of light rain and snow, with a few thunderstorms possible across the southeast corner. We could see snow falling at lowest elevations but anything that falls and accumulates should melt later in the day. Across the the higher elevations, a couple of inches are possible. We should also see a few showers across the central mountains south across the Magic Valley and Albion Mountains during the afternoon and evening hours. The bigger overall issue is strong northerly winds, which should be peaking early this morning, but lingering through the day. We do expect some spots to exceed the low end for WIND ADVISORY, but those pocket should be small enough to keep us from issuing something. That said, we are going to easily exceed the northeast wind threshold for American Falls Reservoir, therefore we will keep the LAKE WIND ADVISORY in place for today. The other issue is colder temperatures. We do have a FREEZE WARNING and FROST ADVISORY out for the Snake Plain and Magic Valley this morning. At the moment, the wind is helping keep temperatures pretty warm. However, we are seeing colder air slipping across the Montana border. That, in conjunction with the usual drop in temperatures overnight, we see no need to end the headlines in place for this morning. For tonight, with less wind, we are likely in line for another round of Frost/Freeze headlines. We will also have less cloud cover around. Highs today barely top out above 60 in a few spots.

We should see a few showers and potentially isolated storms closer to the Montana border Tuesday afternoon and evening. At the moment, this may be a simple round of virga/sprinkles, but certainly worth mentioning in the forecast. Another wave drops south and east for a better chance of precipitation and thunderstorms Wednesday night and Thursday. We may see a few showers and storms daily heading into the weekend especially closer to the Montana border. Temperatures do eventually starting warming up, heading actually toward AVERAGE through midweek and ABOVE AVERAGE later in the week, as we switch from north/northwest flow to southwest flow.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 419 AM MDT Mon May 18 2026

Breezy northerly winds will continue across eastern Idaho, slowly decreasing through the day. Gusts up to 30kts are possible across the area, with the strongest gusts at PIH, IDA, and DIJ. We have VCSH in place for this morning at DIJ, as showers linger for a bit longer. We will need to watch for a few possible late this afternoon and evening at SUN and BYI. At this point, it will take a pretty strong shower to drop conditions below VFR. Overnight, winds will be light.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Freeze Warning until 9 AM MDT this morning for IDZ051-052. Frost Advisory until 9 AM MDT this morning for IDZ053>055. Lake Wind Advisory from 6 AM to 9 PM MDT Monday for IDZ054.