textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Slightly warmer highs today and tomorrow.

- Showers return to the Central Mountains as early as tomorrow.

- More organized and widespread precipitation returns for the weekend as temperatures begin to drop.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 233 AM MDT Thu Oct 29 2026

We are in between systems today, leading to mainly dry conditions and slightly warmer temperatures for this afternoon and Friday afternoon, too. Highs today reach the mid to upper 50s for most of us in the lower elevations with more cities reaching the upper 50s to almost 60 on Friday afternoon. Winds will be fairly light today with gusts around 15 to 20 mph.

There is still an area of low pressure sitting off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and troughing just off the west coast today. This low and trough is gathering Pacific moisture will eject a weak shortwave through Idaho on Friday. Wind gusts begin to increase on Friday, closer to 20-30 mph for many. This will also bring some isolated to scattered showers back to the Central Mountains as early as Friday morning with coverage increasing a bit on Friday afternoon through early Saturday. This first "quick" round of precipitation will bring about 0.10 to 0.20 inches of precipitation the the area which will also mean to expect a few inches of snow up on top of the mountains, too. Most of this will be above pass level, but there is about a half inch to an inch of snow in the current forecast for Galena Summit from Friday morning to Saturday morning.

It's late Saturday into Sunday that the low itself begins to move and makes it way inland and deep troughing which will really pick up more Pacific moisture and transport it to us. This more organized round of precipitation will begin in the Central Mountains/Wood River Valley/eastern Magic Valley as early as 6 PM Saturday and then spread eastward throughout the night. The NBM is now showing about an 80 to 100 percent chance of the entire CWA receiving at least a quarter of an inch of precipitation from 5 AM Saturday to 5 AM Monday. It seems likely that many will see 0.25 to 0.50 inches in the eastern Magic Valley, 0.50 to 0.75 inches in the Snake River Plain and lower elevations of the Eastern Highlands and Central Mountains, while the higher elevations will be pushing 0.80 to 1.50 inches. Temperatures will still be "warm" on Saturday with highs in the 50s, but by Sunday our highs will drop into the mid and upper 40s. Snow impacts seem likely at Galena Summit Saturday night into Sunday morning with the forecast currently showing 4-6" of snow there. Elsewhere, the bulk of our snow is expected to remain above most of the rest of our mountain passes, but that could change easily with temperature changes of just a few degrees.

A few showers linger on Monday morning, but we will be drying out from west to east by that point and high pressure builds in over the area through mid week.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 537 AM MDT Thu Oct 29 2026

VFR conditions are expected throughout the rest of the day as we remain in between systems. Winds stay light with gusts topping out around 10-15 kts and cloud cover will begin to increase this evening. A shortwave moving into the area overnight into Friday will bring VCSH to BYI and SUN around 09/10Z.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 233 AM MDT Thu Oct 29 2026

We stay mild and dry today as we are in between systems. Highs will range from mid to upper 50s in most of the lower elevations with wind gusts around 15-20 mph and min RHs around 30 to 50 percent. A shortwave passing through on Friday will bring precipitation chances back to the Central Mountains first and then expand eastward overnight into Saturday. However, it's Saturday evening through Sunday night that the bulk of the next precipitation will impact the entire area. This will bring plenty of low elevation rainfall and mountain snowfall. It seems likely that many will see 0.25 to 0.50 inches in the eastern Magic Valley, 0.50 to 0.75 inches in the Snake River Plain and lower elevations of the Eastern Highlands and Central Mountains, while the higher elevations will be pushing 0.80 to 1.50 inches. Temperatures will also drop during the weekend with highs mainly in the 40s for Sunday and Monday.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.