textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Rain and Snow Tapers Off This Afternoon and Evening

- Some Fog Expected Tonight and Saturday Morning

- Rain and Snow Returns Later Saturday and Beyond

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 121 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026

Rain and snow is starting to taper off in some areas already this morning. The two main areas where we expected more widespread moisture during the day are 1) generally along and east of I-15 and 2) portions of the central mountains. Some stray light rain and snow is still possible outside of those areas, though. We are going to maintain the WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY for the Bear River Range and Big Holes through the morning. We are looking at another 2-6" with locally higher amounts. Roads across those areas vary from wet to snowcovered and should remain that way this morning. We are seeing variable road conditions across the rest of the area as well, so please slow down if the roads even looks slick. Other locations will either all rain, or a mix of rain and snow. Where we can get mostly snow to fall, look for light accumulations up to 3". By this evening and tonight, any lingering precipitation will be across the eastern highlands. Most of this appears to be potential "seeder feeder" light precipitation, especially closer to the Montana border. There will be plenty of moisture left over from the rain and snow. This isn't most ideal pattern for fog development, but there is enough potential to include in for most valley locations, although we did leave it out for portions of the Magic Valley and also for places like Challis and the Pahsimeroi Valley. The next round of rain and snow moves in later Saturday and continues Saturday night and Sunday. We could see some impacts over Galena and Banner Summits tomorrow night, but nothing significant. Expect more coming on Sunday in terms of overall rain and snow amounts.

Temperatures should remain well above average heading into the weekend. Even where inversions appear to not be fully eroding, it should be a few degrees warmer overall compared to the past couple of days. We do finally push high temperatures just a bit above freezing at Stanley and Challis.

LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 150 PM MST Thu Jan 1 2026

Snow levels are expected to remain 5000-6500 ft Sunday through Monday, so rain is expected in the valleys with snow in the mountains. Cold front sags through the region Monday, bringing snow levels down to valley floors Monday night, but most of the precipitation should be over by then. Slightly cooler temperatures are in place for the remainder of the forecast period with weakly unsettled conditions over the higher elevations. Another front is expected Wednesday, bringing temperatures back to near normal by the end of the period.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1033 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026

Remnants of system shifting through East Idaho today, with a few showers left mainly over higher elevations. Confidence is low but not zero probability of SHRASN at SUN this afternoon, but best chance is at DIJ for the next few hours. FG/BR will be the main concern for this issuance as IDA remains deep in LIFR FG. There is some hope that VIS would briefly improve into at least IFR, but given the amount of recent precipitation, any improvement will likely be short lived. Returned IDA to IFR sunset through tonight, with good confidence that LIFR will be possible. Similar concerns exist for DIJ and PIH but with less confidence as those sites improve to MVFR for the afternoon. Probability of both of those sites dropping down to IFR are about 30-40% for the night, and about 15% chance to drop to LIFR. Further west for the remainder of the night, BYI and SUN should remain VFR but there is about a 20% chance to see BYI drop back to MVFR CIGS.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST this morning for IDZ060-064.