textproduct: Pocatello

KEY MESSAGES

- Strong to damaging wind gusts and blowing dust are expected for East Idaho Saturday.

- A combination of Wind Advisory, High Wind Warning, and Blowing Dust Warning headlines are in place for Saturday.

- A major warming trend follows this system, with potential record-breaking temperatures in the 70s and lower 80s expected next week.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 150 PM MDT Fri Mar 13 2026

Windy pattern continues with WIND ADVISORY in place today for most of the upper portions of the Snake Plain. Gusts already exceeding 40 mph, with localized pockets of blowing dust reported by emergency management. Probabilistic max gusts are generally in the 45 to 50 mph range for the rest of today in the Advisory area. Winds drop off this evening but remain breezy through the overnight leading into Saturday. For Saturday, the winds drastically ramp up once again. This time, expectations are for winds to exceed Thursday's event across a more widespread area. Nearly all of East Idaho will be headlined for wind Saturday, with almost all areas supporting a greater than 30% chance of max wind gusts exceeding 50 mph. The Snake River Plain and areas surrounding it support a better than 60% chance of max wind gusts exceeding 60 mph. For these areas, a HIGH WIND WARNING has been issued. Portions of the Central mountains, Island Park, and the Cache Valley/Bear Lake zones should see the lesser gusts, thus a WIND ADVISORY has been issued. Additionally, given the blowing dust issues seen on Thursday, we have added a BLOWING DUST WARNING for the Upper Snake River Plain, to account for anticipated travel disruptions near and north of Idaho Falls. Peak winds should fall during the afternoon hours, but shoulder times would include mid-morning and early-evening for gusts to start to be impactful.

The fly in the ointment will be showers ahead of the cold front associated with producing these winds. There is the possibility of showers and cloud cover putting a damper on the winds. Precipitation amounts will be very light across the Snake Plain, if they can develop, so not enough rainfall is expected to moisten the ground to prevent blowing dust from being an issue. Higher precipitation totals will be possible for the highlands east of Interstate 15 and western edges of the central mountains.

Winds ease during the late evening and overnight across the region as northwest flow develops, bringing an end to the wind machine for East Idaho for the time being. This ushers in the beginning of an increasingly warm and dry period for East Idaho. Temperatures increase through the week, trending toward record highs in the 70s to lower 80s Tuesday through the rest of the week.

PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

High Wind Warning from 9 AM to 9 PM MDT Saturday for IDZ051>058-062>065-068. Wind Advisory until 9 PM MDT this evening for IDZ052>054-065. Blowing Dust Warning from noon to 9 PM MDT Saturday for IDZ053. Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 9 PM MDT Saturday for IDZ059>061- 066-067-069>075.