textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Warming continues today and tomorrow.

- Low chance of precipitation returns this afternoon across southern Idaho.

- Stronger precipitation and thunderstorm threats arrive starting Friday afternoon, intensifying over the weekend ahead of early Sunday cold front.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 144 PM MDT Thu Apr 9 2026

Today is a bit of an "in between" day for us as we are in between one system that has left the area and another that will bring increasing rain and thunderstorm chances back to us starting Friday and continuing through early next week. As we are in between today, it will be a rather mild day with highs reaching the upper 60s to low 70s this afternoon and some of the lightest winds so far this week with gusts only to 25 mph. While the majority of us will stay dry today, there is about a 20 percent chance of a shower in the South Hills as some Pacific moisture begins to work its way into Eastern Idaho from an area of low pressure sitting off the coast of California. We're already seeing a bit of this on radar early this afternoon. This low is pushed a bit farther east on Friday as another low drops in to take its place. This eastward movement will be enough to increase rain and thunderstorm chances in the second half of Friday, especially in the Central Mountains where thunderstorm chances will increase to around 30 percent. This is a slight increase from previous model runs. There will be some slight chances for a shower or storm in the Eastern Highlands, but closer to about a 15 to 20 percent chance. Friday also looks to be quite warm with highs in the low to mid 70s. Winds will begin to increase on Friday afternoon with gusts returning to the 30-35 mph range for many.

As the stronger low moves eastward Saturday and Sunday, we will see precipitation and storm chances increase to a more widespread 20 to 30 percent across almost all of Eastern Idaho and we may even see those chances increase a bit over the next few model runs. Winds will continue to increase on Saturday with gusts pushing closer to 35-45 mph, nearing WIND ADVISORY territory. With the increasing cloud cover and precipitation chances, Saturday will be a few degrees cooler, topping out in the mid 60s for most. The low eventually moves through the West as more of an open trough on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and its cold front arrives early Sunday for most of Eastern Idaho. This means highs on Sunday will be a bit cooler, in the upper 50s to low 60s and Monday will be about 10 degrees cooler even still. Models still show some measurable precipitation for many of us for the 72 hour period ending Tuesday morning. Much of the Snake River Plain is looking at a tenth to three tenths of an inch and closer to a half inch to three quarters of an inch at the higher elevations. Snow levels will drop behind the cold front, so some high elevation snow is in the forecast,but the highest snow amounts will remain above pass level. For some of our passes, the forecast currently shows about 2-5 inches of snow throughout that 72 hour period for areas like Galena Summit and Emigration Summit. A few showers linger into Tuesday, but we will be starting to dry out by that point. The pattern remains unsettled through the week and highs stay in the mid 50s for Tuesday through Thursday.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1118 AM MDT Thu Apr 9 2026

VFR conditions continue for all sites through the forecast period. There is a very small non-zero (<10% chance) of a shower impacting the region south of BYI between 22Z this afternoon and 03Z tonight, but impacts at the terminal are not expected. Better chances for convection exist Friday afternoon. For now that includes the SUN terminal, but expectations are inclusion of at least VCTS in the remaining terminals with the next forecast issuance.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.