Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pocatello, ID
Issued by NWS Pocatello, ID
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896 FXUS65 KPIH 270345 AFDPIH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 845 PM MST Wed Nov 26 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Occasional mainly mountain rain and snow showers throughout most of the week - Extremely mild temperatures through Friday - Significantly colder temperatures over the weekend through early next week && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 128 PM MST Wed Nov 26 2025 Afternoon satellite imagery shows continued low to mid level clouds streaming across eastern Idaho today but some occasional breaks in the cloud deck have been observed in recent hours. As such, temperatures are starting to warm into the 40s and even near 50 as you head into the Magic Valley and parts of the lower Snake Plain where we`re starting to see a bit more sun. Areas without, remain chilly, generally in the 30s for the moment. As we progress through the rest of the day, weak upper level ridging will start to build over the area as we move into Thanksgiving Day. Will still have some lingering moisture in place across the central mountains and eastern highlands this evening and another round of light snow showers will be possible during the next 12-18 hours. The aforementioned ridge will bring some very mild temps to the region for the holiday tomorrow along with a little bit more sunshine compared to today; but we`ll still have some clouds in place however, especially across the upper Snake Highlands, eastern highlands and up towards the Island Park area. Highs tomorrow should top out in the upper 40s to mid 50s across the lower elevations which is quite mild for late November. Areas that see a bit more clouds likely stay in the low to mid 40s for much of the day however. Precip should be limited for Thanksgiving tomorrow with only some isolated shower chances possible across the eastern highlands in the mid/late morning hours but for the most part, it`ll be a dry holiday. Any precip that does fall will be light and generally of little impact to holiday travel. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 128 PM MST Wed Nov 26 2025 Series of shortwaves impacts East Idaho through the extended period. The first arrives during the day Friday, producing light snow across higher elevations and breezy winds through portions of the Snake Plain. This system exits quickly, but is followed by the second feature arriving late Saturday. Light snow may be possible down to some valley floors Saturday night. Accumulations should remain light, even at higher elevations for both systems. The story, though, is the cooler air expected to filter into the region beginning Sunday as the system sags through the region. 35% of the ensemble members are sharper and colder with the trough on Sunday into Monday, while all clusters agree on general timing of the feature. NBM probabilistic spread on temperatures does not seem as drastic as it was earlier this week, though the deterministic temp is still running at the high end of the spread, so there is likely some wiggle room for lower temperatures to come early next week. Third system of the extended period arrives Tuesday for another round of precipitation into midweek. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 845 PM MST Wed Nov 26 2025 Northwest flow aloft continues tonight through tomorrow with more mountain snow showers in the forecast. Will continue with VCSH in the TAF for SUN as we continue to see radar returns out there tonight, though are hard pressed to confirm anything making it to the ground. Overall, dry conditions are expected at BYI, PIH, and IDA, but the clouds moving into BYI and PIH are lowering CIGs just a bit more than originally anticipated. Still VFR, but closer to borderline VFR/MVFR. There`s another small (around 10 percent) chance for a few flurries at IDA and PIH again early Thursday morning just like we saw this morning, but little to no impacts are expected. We are most likely to see impacts at DIJ where there is closer to a 40 percent chance for snow showers. IFR conditions are in the TAF for DIJ with low VIS and CIGs as snow showers pass through with the most likely timeframe being from around 11Z to 16Z Thursday morning. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...McKaughan LONG TERM...DMH AVIATION...AMM