It’s no secret that I talk to a lot of weather folks in the Portland and Seattle areas, despite living in East Idaho. The “hot topic” (pun intended) of conversation in these circles is the impending heat wave, which spells imminent doom for everyone west of the Cascades who doesn’t have air conditioning. Our good friend Frankie MacDonald has even weighed in in this YouTube Video.
With some weather models predicting highs in Portland above 110 and highs in Seattle above 100, it’s not hard to imagine the deserts out here getting at least that hot, maybe even hotter. Well… nope!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still going to be warm here in the high desert, especially for those of us in St. Anthony who don’t have air conditioning. The GFS Model is posting highs in the low-90s for Idaho Falls, with lows still getting below 60 most nights. Rexburg and St. Anthony might hit 90, but the likelihood of that is lower.
Further up Highway 20 toward Island Park and West Yellowstone, temperatures will be even cooler. In fact, judging by the forecast, the mountains out here might even experience a cooler spell. The National Weather Service has highs at Henrys Lake State Park around 82, with temperatures lowering into the upper 70s during the Portland Apocolypse.
Really, though, to make a long story short we’re going to hardly notice the heat wave out here, which is nice. According to the Climate Prediction Center, temperatures should remain slightly above average in East Idaho.
Here are some nice GIFs I patched together. One is NWS forecasted highs, the other is NWS forecasted lows taken from this tool.
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