032
FXUS65 KPIH 051804
AFDPIH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1204 PM MDT Fri Jun 5 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

-Hot and dry conditions expected today.

-Breezy to gusty winds continue each afternoon through the
 weekend.

-Next shower/storm chance returns late Saturday into Sunday as
 slow- moving cold front passes through the area.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 256 AM MDT Fri Jun 5 2026

Weak high pressure is sitting over Eastern Idaho this morning
leading to almost no cloud cover and certainly nothing of interest
on radar. It is almost more of a zonal flow early this morning
before we get into southwest flow aloft this afternoon. Once we do,
temperatures will jump quickly (though it`s not too difficult of a
jump when many are already in the mid to upper 50s) into the 80s. We
will be nearing the 90 degree mark in parts of the eastern Magic
Valley, lower Snake River Plain, and South Hills today. Winds are a
bit lighter today and it looks like we`ll stay just below any LAKE
WIND ADVISORY criteria at the American Falls Reservoir. Strongest
wind gusts will be in the Central Mountains and out across the Arco
Desert/Mud Lake area with gusts around 35 mph and stronger on ridge
tops. Gusts will actually be a bit lighter in the eastern Magic
Valley, South Hills, and Snake River Plain ranging from 20 to 30
mph.

Our next system begins to move into the area for the weekend with an
area of low pressure over southern Canada and the Pacific Northwest
and an associated slow-moving cold front passing through eastern
Idaho. This will bring about isolated to scattered showers and
thunderstorms late Saturday into Sunday. There still isn`t much in
the forecast for liquid precipitation, but there are at least a
couple of hundredths for the norther portions of the Central
Mountains and the Eastern Highlands. Gusty winds will be in full
force for Saturday and Sunday thanks to the cold front and it seems
plausible that we will need WIND ADVISORY headlines at some point as
gusts reach 35 to 45 mph and a few spots to nearly 50 mph.

The weekend system will drop our afternoon highs by about 5 degrees
for Saturday and a much bigger drop for Sunday when we may not even
make it out of the 60s! We get a bit of a break in the activity on
Monday before another system arrives late Tuesday into Wednesday and
brings better chances for widespread rainfall which we so
desperately need.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1200 PM MDT Fri Jun 5 2026

Widespread VFR this afternoon through Saturday morning. Winds
will be 10 to 15 knots this afternoon at PIH, IDA and DIJ. Will
have clear skies. Winds die down tonight. Expect a wind increase
last Saturday morning as a cold front approaches with 15 gusting
to 25 expected after 17Z at PIH, IDA and DIJ. Will see an
increase in mid and high level clouds.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 256 AM MDT Fri Jun 5 2026

Weak high pressure over the area early this morning brings about a
quiet start to the day, but we will see increasing wind gusts again
this afternoon and dry conditions, though winds will be a bit
lighter than yesterday. As such, we will see NEAR CRITICAL fire
weather conditions with low min RHs and said breezy winds as
temperatures also increase this afternoon. A slow-moving cold front
begins to move into eastern Idaho late tonight and will bring even
stronger winds to the area for the weekend. The chance for a wetting
rain this weekend looks mostly confined to the northern portions of
the Central Mountains and parts of the Eastern Highlands. It`s not
until next Tuesday into Wednesday that we see the potential for more
widespread wetting rains as a stronger system arrives.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...AMM
AVIATION...GK
FIRE WEATHER...AMM