Wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph widespread on the 8th.
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The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.
Wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph widespread on the 8th.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 8, 4:49 AM MST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 449 AM MST Thu Jan 8 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Snow showers continue on and off today with drier conditions through the weekend. - Wind Advisory for parts of the South Hills and eastern Magic Valley today with wind gusts up to 55 mph expected. - Cooler air is here now, but gradual warming begins this weekend. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 246 AM MST Thu Jan 8 2026 The cold front is through most of Eastern Idaho by this point and the bulk of our more organized snow is gone with it. However, that doesn't mean our snow is ALL gone. Models are showing a convergence band of snow through the Snake River Plain this morning, likely enhanced/triggered a bit by the batch of snow moving out of Boise's area and into ours at the moment, and some isolated to scattered snow showers continuing in the mountains through the afternoon and evening. Even with some lingering snow today, the current plan is to allow our Winter Weather Advisories to expire at 12Z. Additional snowfall in the Eastern Highlands mountains will only be another inch or two. With the convergence band, models are showing about another half inch of snow, though confidence in this is low. Wind gusts will be increasing behind this cold front, especially in the eastern Magic Valley and South Hills. With gusts up to 55 mph looking likely, a Wind Advisory has been issued for 6 AM to 4 PM today. The NBM is showing a 60 to 80 percent chance of gusts reaching at least 45 mph, the minimum criteria for the Wind Advisory, around Burley, Oakley, and Malta and a 40 to 60 percent chance of reaching at least 50 mph. Anyone driving high profile vehicles along this portion of I-84/86 should stay alert, especially near the split (Yale area) where downsloping winds tend to gust higher. Cooler air is also moving into our area behind the cold front with highs today only expected to reach the low to mid 30s through the eastern Magic Valley and Snake River Plain while our higher elevation towns will be in the 20s. Late tonight into Friday, most of any lingering snow showers will finally taper off leading to dry time on Friday as high pressure builds in over the area. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 230 PM MST Wed Jan 7 2026 High pressure eventually builds across the western U.S., and basically leaves eastern Idaho mostly dry. We do expect some showers Friday across the eastern and southeast highlands, and perhaps for part of the day across the Sawtooths and Frank Church. We could also see some showers occasionally next week with a couple of storms topping the ridge. That would mainly be around Island Park if that happens. The pattern will produce a slow warming trend, but we are not expecting temperatures to get too far above average. We will likely need to monitor trends for inversion conditions, and any impacts from that including fog and stratus. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 449 AM MST Thu Jan 8 2026 The cold front has passed through most of our terminals this morning with snow currently at DIJ and bringing IFR conditions due to low VIS and CIGs. Models are showing one last round of snow showers passing through IDA, PIH, and DIJ later this morning, so have PROB30 groups to account for this. Outside of snow, low CIGs continue at BYI, PIH, and IDA this morning, though CIGs have been back and forth at BKN to SCT 009, so expect the swing from IFR to VFR to continue for a few more hours. CIGs will improve around midday before low clouds and some patchy fog return tonight. Wind will also be an impact today with gusts of 30 to 35 kts at BYI and gusts of 20 to 25 kts elsewhere. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 4 PM MST this afternoon for IDZ055>057. && SHORT TERM...AMM LONG TERM...Keyes AVIATION...AMM
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
559 AM MST Thu Jan 8 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0345 AM Snow 3 E Pocatello 42.88N 112.41W
01/08/2026 M3.5 Inch Bannock ID NWS Employee
Overnight total.
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JKEYESThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Widespread 50 to 65 mph wind gusts measured on the 8th with a peak of 62 mph recorded at the Yale interstate 84 site 7 miles north northwest of Idahome.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2026
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1312597.