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 /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 1018 PM MDT Sun May 17 2026

VFR conditions are expected at most sites through the period. DIJ is the one exception where CIGs/VIS have been borderline MVFR/VFR so far. Borderline MVFR/VFR conditions are expected to continue for DIJ. Conditions are forecast to remain dry at BYI, PIH, and IDA with VCSH remaining in the forecast for SUN and DIJ. Any showers at DIJ are expected to turn to snow after around 5z, which would bring a better chance of MVFR CIGS/VIS. Northerly winds behind the cold front will also increase tonight with gusts around 20-25 kts at DIJ, SUN, and BYI and closer to 35 kts at PIH and IDA. Winds will drop off by around 10kts after around 9 to 12z before ramping back again by late morning/early afternoon. Winds look to start dropping off gradually overall by around 20 to 21z for all TAF sites. Expect mostly clear skies by early to mid afternoon for all TAF sites. Wind drop off below 10 mph by early evening tomorrow evening.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Freeze Warning from 3 AM to 9 AM MDT Monday for IDZ051-052. Frost Advisory from 3 AM to 9 AM MDT Monday for IDZ053>055. Lake Wind Advisory from 6 AM to 9 PM MDT Monday for IDZ054.