Is Boise/Treasure Valley Cloudier Than Western Oregon/Washington?? (market, weather)
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Idaho gets a lot of weather fronts passing through in all directions, year round.
2016 has been a year of new fronts forming continually, one after the other, with no persistent strong high or low fronts to slow or stop them.
I think it's an unusual weather year, but then we have all gotten pretty used to the weather of the past 20 years. Warm winters are more noticeable in everyone's mind than a continual high haze, but I noticed the prevalence of steady high cloudiness a few years ago very gradually.
What made me notice it was how light blue the sky had become that year. In my youth, an Idaho summer sky was always a very deep blue instead of being more of a robin's egg blue.
Who knows? After such a long drought, what you are seeing may be stratospheric dust that may circulate for a long time before it comes back down, and is collecting precipitation while it's up there. Or a high layer of ice particles that are blocking out some of the sun.
Or even much lower dust, kicked up by all the spring planting that always happens this time of year. If that's it, expect to see it again come early fall when harvest begins.
I don't know how much time you are spending in the mountains, but if you are, you may already have noticed the air up in them is different than in the valley. Here in I.F., the mountain air is always clearer year round except when it's storming. It was like that in Boise, decades ago when I lived in the Treasure Valley, but that's a long time in the past now.
Agreed, and sooner or later someone will start a thread moaning that it is too hot.
Does anyone ever share their thoughts at this forum when the weather is comfortable? This has been a fabulous Spring (except for that weekend heat wave earlier this month). Where is the thread praising the SW Idaho spring we have enjoyed?
Agreed, and sooner or later someone will start a thread moaning that it is too hot.
Does anyone ever share their thoughts at this forum when the weather is comfortable? This has been a fabulous Spring (except for that weekend heat wave earlier this month). Where is the thread praising the SW Idaho spring we have enjoyed?
The weather has not been awful, it is just cloudier than I expected considering this is an arid desert that has a minimal amount of rain. I was expecting blue skies throughout the year. This winter, I almost forgot I was not in Seattle, as it was cloudy and drizzly every day. I think BanjoMike summarized this point as well. There is a strange weather system going through the valley. It probably has to do with having a micro-climate and being in a huge arid valley, surrounded by mountains and even thick forests on all sides. Various weather systems, fueled by who knows what phenomenon coming pushing through this valley. I was pretty shocked this spring how it could be sunny and warm and then out of no where comes dark clouds rushing in the valley and then torrential monsoon rains. My kitchen actually got flooded by one of these outbursts, as I forgot to close the window and the monsoon rain came pouring through my window. It was a real mess to mop up.
There is a lot of places in the country that have crappier weather than Boise.
I personally enjoy the dry heat.. The swampy, hot weather we had that one week did suck, but now we are having drier heat, which is enjoyable. With Central A/C in almost every home here, it makes it quite bearable. Actually , my home is so well-built that I don't even need to run the A/C until night time, even on a 90F day. Homes in Boise are actually much better built than in the Puget Sound and Portland area, which also makes a great difference to how weatherized they are.
When is the cloudy dreary July weather going to stop... Is it normal to have this much cloudy weather in July in Boise or is this year one of those odd ones? June was nice, even if it is was extremely hot.
The next week forecast says high 80s and sunny, which is perfect for me. I'm just hoping that it will be what they say and stay that way.
It appears that Summer has not yet even started in Portland or Seattle, but rather they are having an extended Spring. Very odd for this time of year.
When is the cloudy dreary July weather going to stop... Is it normal to have this much cloudy weather in July in Boise or is this year one of those odd ones? June was nice, even if it is was extremely hot.
The next week forecast says high 80s and sunny, which is perfect for me. I'm just hoping that it will be what they say and stay that way.
It appears that Summer has not yet even started in Portland or Seattle, but rather they are having an extended Spring. Very odd for this time of year.
It's been sunny here since 2 PM this afternoon, and the forecast for Boise (via Accuweather) is 2 more days of clouds within July.
It's been sunny here since 2 PM this afternoon, and the forecast for Boise (via Accuweather) is 2 more days of clouds within July.
It was cloudy and raining until late afternoon here in Meridian area. It's funny, but when it gets all overcast and rainy like that, my brain suddenly is tricked into thinking I live in Washington again.
I trust what you are saying BoiseBound, but if what you say about the forecast ends up not being true, then I hold you responsible..
It was raining yesterday. We needed rain. Can it rain without clouds?
This has been a strange summer but I'm loving it. It was 100 just a week or two ago, then yesterday it didn't even make it to 60. I love having a break from the heat, but most summers a "break" is 85.
This morning the sun is out bright. No wind. I think I'll take a walk today cuz it'll be too hot by the weekend. Sun for at least a week.
It was cloudy and raining until late afternoon here in Meridian area. It's funny, but when it gets all overcast and rainy like that, my brain suddenly is tricked into thinking I live in Washington again.
I trust what you are saying BoiseBound, but if what you say about the forecast ends up not being true, then I hold you responsible..
Ohhhkaaaaay.
AccuWeather is usually pretty reliable, but honestly, I don't know how they can predict for a whole month.
AccuWeather is usually pretty reliable, but honestly, I don't know how they can predict for a whole month.
I've taught the "Weather and Climate" class at my local community college for about 12-13 years now and for the first few years, I had my students keep a log book where they check the weather forecast out to a week. Then they go back and recheck through the week. Finally, after the date, to record what actually happened.
I finally did away with that little exercise. The original intent was to show/teach the students how much they could 'trust' a weather forecast, be it just a couple of days or an extended forecast. The past five years or so, weather forecasts have become so much more accurate that I concluded I was having them do 'busy work', and it was a waste of time for everyone involved.
Couldn't tell you exactly 'how they do it'. However, the computers are getting so much more powerful and faster as well as more monitoring stations throughout the world in conjunction with daily, global satellite imagery all blend together to give us much more accurate forecasts than just a decade ago.
"A whole month" . . . I wouldn't think that a forecast that far out would be very accurate. Especially in 'swing' seasons. A week, approaching two weeks; I've found to be pretty right on.
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