textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Smoke will continue to be in the area in varying degrees for the next few days. With northwest flow aloft by late tomorrow, more significant smoke could work its way back into the area.

- No precipitation expected through this week with cooler temperatures through Wednesday.

- Temperatures warming back up to the upper 80s to mid 90s by the end of the week and through the weekend. May see temperatures around 100 by the weekend in lower elevations.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 103 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2026

Main impacts in the short term will be the presence of smoke at times with northwest flow tonight and Tuesday. An air quality alert remains in effect for Power, Bannock, Bingham, Oneida and Caribou counties due to the wildfire smoke. Cooler temperatures will continue through Tuesday with low elevations remaining in the 80s and mountains in the 60s and 70s. Will see significant warming Wednesday and continuing through the week into the weekend. May see low elevation high temperatures around 100 once again by the weekend. So the cool down early this week will be very short lived. No precipitation is forecast through next Monday in the forecast grids.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 1202 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2026

Not even a cloud expected in the next 24 hours. Some weakly gusting wind at KBYI and KPIH, otherwise expect afternoon and evening peaks at around 10KT to 15KT. Wind shifts should be fairly normal and based on slope-valley wind interactions. KIDA should have some northerly wind.

The wind direction will determine the reduction of VSBY due to wildfire FU. Have not seen anything worse than 5SM. Worst time will be when fire is most active, then again in the morning before inversion breaks.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 1202 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2026

High pressure locked in overhead with upper level west to northwest flow means a slow warm up, at least until a southerly component develops. For the next two days, the gradual warming continues, keeping afternoon humidity dropping below 10 percent in a number of places. Luckily, high pressure like this keeps wind light and while some of the southwestern zones will be close to Red Flag conditions, not expecting the wind to be strong enough. On Thu, the upper level ridge builds more into southern Idaho and temperatures spike up 7 deg F or so; many low elevations will approach the century mark.

Atmospheric stability behind the weekend front is improved and so extreme fire growth if a fire gets established will be more dependent on fuel conditions. Expect more instability from day to day as the mixing height increases.

Wind will increase on Friday and would be the next opportunity for some widespread Red Flag conditions and will have to be monitored.

AIR QUALITY

Issued at 103 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2026

An air quality alert continues for Caribou, Oneida, Bingham, Bannock and Power Counties through Tuesday due to impacts from wildfire smoke. Air quality is expected to remain "unhealthy for sensitive groups" through Wednesday.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Air Quality Alert until 4 PM MDT Wednesday for IDZ052-054-055- 057>059-062-063.