372 FXUS65 KPIH 060927 AFDPIH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 327 AM MDT Sat Jun 6 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... -Fire Weather Watch continues for Sunday due to low relative humidity and strong, gusty winds. -Isolated virga showers and mostly dry storms through the weekend. -Better chance for widespread showers and storms Tuesday into Wednesday along with much cooler temperatures. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 318 AM MDT Sat Jun 6 2026 An area of low pressure is moving through the Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada this weekend which will bring a slow-moving cold front through eastern Idaho. This cold front will bring gusty winds, isolated virga showers/dry thunderstorms, and cooler temperatures for Sunday. The probability of these virga showers and isolated dry storms remains around 10 to 15 percent for much of the area, but does increase to closer to 20 percent the farther north and northeast you go, nearer to the Montana state line. With any virga showers, the potential is there for gusts around 45 mph. Even outside of any shower or storm activity, wind gusts will be around 20 to 35 mph with stronger gusts near 40 mph on ridge tops and out across the Arco desert/Mud Lake area. Highs today will be a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday, but still topping out around 80 degrees or so. Winds will be stronger on Sunday with more widespread gusts of 40 to 50 mph, so we will likely need a WIND ADVISORY for most of the Snake River Plain. In addition to the gusty winds, it remains quite dry overall, so the FIRE WEATHER WATCH remains in effect for Sunday at this point which will likely be converted into a RED FLAG WARNING by the day shift crew today. Highs drop quite a bit for Sunday with many of us not making it out of the 60s! This system and cold front will be out of here by Monday and that will be a bit of a "break" in between systems for us. Highs will rebound into the 70s, dry conditions persist, and wind gusts return to a more "typical" 20-30 mph. Tuesday into Wednesday another low will move through the PNW and southwestern Canada to bring a better chance for measurable rainfall to much of eastern Idaho and drop afternoon highs into the 60s for Tuesday through Thursday. Winds will remain breezy through this time, too. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 318 AM MDT Sat Jun 6 2026 Radar is picking up on some light returns out there early this morning, though that is more likely the increased cloud cover as a slow-moving cold front moves through eastern Idaho this weekend. Short-range models are also picking up on that cold front line and making it look a bit more impressive than what is likely to be seen, but they are also picking up on a couple of isolated thunderstorms moving through/near KPIH, KIDA, and KDIJ later this evening into early tonight from around 23Z to 04Z, so have added that into the TAF for this issuance. Outside of any isolated storm activity, look for gusts to around 25 kts this afternoon with even stronger gusts of 30-40 kts on Sunday afternoon. Even with the increased cloud cover VFR conditions are expected throughout today and into Sunday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 318 AM MDT Sat Jun 6 2026 A FIRE WEATHER WATCH remains in effect for fire weather zones 425 and 425 on Sunday at this point, but will most likely be upgraded to a RED FLAG WARNING later today. This is due to a slow-moving cold front that is passing through eastern Idaho this weekend and bringing strong, gusty winds. It will bring some isolated virga showers/dry thunderstorms this afternoon and into Sunday, but little to no liquid precipitation is expected out of any of this. Even min RHs are generally in the 15 to 25 percent range today, which means we will see NEAR CRITICAL fire weather conditions, but min RHs drop significantly on Sunday, in the 10 to 15 percent range for most of zones 425 and 427, hence the current headlines. Through parts of zones 410, 413, and 476 we will remain near critical on Sunday, too. With any isolated showers or storms we see today, there is the potential for gusts of around 45 mph. Even outside of any of this activity, it will be breezy with gusts of 30 to 40 mph in the Central Mountains and across the Arco desert. Strong wind gusts arrive on Sunday with more widespread gusts of 35 to nearly 50 mph in zones 410, 411, 425, 427, and 476. 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... Fire Weather Watch from Sunday morning through Sunday evening for IDZ425-427. && $$ DISCUSSION...AMM AVIATION...AMM FIRE WEATHER...AMM