Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boise, ID
Issued by NWS Boise, ID
164 FXUS65 KBOI 281658 AFDBOI Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boise ID 958 AM MST Fri Nov 28 2025 .DISCUSSION...A cold front will bring a brief band of precipitation through the area with snow levels around 4000-5000` today. This band is situated from Ontario to McCall this and will move southeast this morning before weakening by the time it gets to the Magic Valley. The cold front will clean out the inversion and mix out the fog in the valleys by this afternoon, with breezy west-northwest winds. Strongest winds will be in the Magic Valley with gusts to 35-40 mph this afternoon. Fog is forecast to redevelop in the valleys tonight into Saturday morning, with the best chance coming along the foothills in the Boise metro, to the Magic Valley, Baker Valley and around Burns OR. First snow of the season possible for many valleys locations on Sunday morning. Forecast has been updated to increase precipitation chances this morning. Sunday morning will need higher chance so precipitation and will be addressed in the afternoon forecast. && .AVIATION...VLIFR-IFR in low stratus/fog this morning, mainly in the Treasure Valley and mtn valleys. Fog is lifting to low stratus, with conditions improving inside and behind a band of rain/snow moving NW to SE. Some freezing precip has been observed out of the band near KONO. The band is following a cold front dropping snow levels to 4-5 kft MSL. Slight clearing this evening before fog/stratus returns tonight. Surface winds: variable less than 10 kt, becoming NW 10-25 kt with gusts 20-35 kt this afternoon, strongest from KMUO to KJER/KTWF. Winds aloft at 10kft MSL: NW 15-30 kt. KBOI...LIFR/VLIFR fog expected to lift to stratus as frontal showers arrive just after 17Z. The light rain will last for a few hours before post-frontal winds arrive and improve conditions to VFR. Surface winds light and variable, then NW 7-15 kt with gusts 18-25 kt with the front this afternoon. Weekend Outlook...A 30-50% chance of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning, with snow levels on valley floors. MVFR to LIFR in snow with mountain obscuration. Surface winds: E-SE 5-15 kt Saturday, becoming W-NW 5-15 kt with afternoon gusts 15-25 kt Sunday. && .PREV DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...Today through Sunday night...Dense Fog Advisory for the Treasure and western Magic Valleys looks marginal early this morning, but hi-res models and MOS products continue to support it until 9 AM MST. After that a Pacific cold front will generate enough mixing and wind to quickly end the fog. Synoptic models have only minimal QPF with the incoming front, but hi- res models are wetter and agree with each other so we favor that forecast. Post-frontal northwest winds will increase to 15-25 mph in the Snake Basin this afternoon, with gusts to 35 mph from Mountain Home eastward, not strong enough for a Wind Advisory. Clearing, calming, and colder tonight and Saturday morning behind the exiting cold front. Increasing clouds from the north later Saturday as the next short wave trough approaches from the BC coast. With cold air still in place, this trough should supply enough moisture to generate light snow in most of our CWA Saturday night. The Treasure Valley should get a dusting. Little if any impact on travel is expected, though. LONG TERM...Monday through Friday...After a ridge briefly builds overhead on Monday, an upper level trough will move across the area from northwest to southeast Monday night into Tuesday. This trajectory will contain limited moisture, and only light precipitation amounts are expected. Snow levels will be around 2500-3500 feet, supporting potential for a rain/snow mix in the lower valleys. However, there is only a 10% chance of accumulating snow in the Treasure Valley. Winds will be breezy on Tuesday as the system moves through, and temperatures will be near normal. An amplified pattern featuring a ridge in the eastern Pacific and trough in the central U.S. will bring cool and mostly dry northwesterly flow over our area Wednesday and Thursday. This will keep temperatures near normal with only a slight (15-25%) chance of snow in the central Idaho mountains. By Friday, forecast confidence decreases with significant disagreement in the ensembles about the pattern moving forward. The ridge is expected to flatten, but how much is uncertain. If zonal flow can become established, models indicate a much wetter and mild pattern returning to the area, but if the ridge hangs on, mostly dry conditions would continue. This uncertainty results in a 20-50% chance of rain and snow on Friday, with further adjustments likely as models come into better agreement. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. OR...None. && $$ www.weather.gov/Boise Interact with us via social media: www.facebook.com/NWSBoise www.x.com/NWSBoise DISCUSSION...KA AVIATION.....JM SHORT TERM...LC LONG TERM....ST