It’s December, right? Eastern Idaho sees ‘extremely warm’ weather with high winds, little snow

IDAHO FALLS – Were your windows and walls creaking Tuesday morning? Did you watch as your neighbor’s holiday decorations flew down the street?

Much of eastern Idaho awoke to high winds, making the temperatures feel colder and the desert feel like the windy city.

Maren Archibald, chief of communications for Idaho Falls School District 91, says that a maintenance team took a tree down at the request of Sunnyside Elementary Principal Kylie Dixon, as the tree trunk was cracking due to the high winds.

The National Weather Service in Pocatello says much of eastern Idaho is in for a very windy week.

“You’ve had some gusts, 40 to 50 mph at times late (Tuesday) morning,” says forecaster Greg Kaiser. “We’re getting pretty strong winds, 20-plus mph, gusts over 30 mph. It pretty much runs along the interstate corridor, Twin Falls to Burley and Pocatello, all the way through Idaho Falls. The Arco deserts have some really strong winds as well.”

Make sure your outdoor holiday decorations are secure too. The wind is expected to last until Friday morning, with gusts reaching a high of 30 mph regularly.

“(Wednesday) is going to be another windy day; it will continue (Tuesday and Wednesday),” Kaiser says. “Thursday and Friday, especially Friday, are when you’re going to notice the significantly lighter winds.”

As for if and when we can expect snow this week, Kaiser says not to get too excited, as he is describes the current winter weather as “extremely warm.”

“It’s definitely, significantly above normal, like 15 to 20 degrees. It’s extremely warm for this time of year, for sure,” Kaiser says. “Even mountain areas that would generally get snow are not. There’s very little snow up around Island Park; it’s above freezing everywhere.”

Kaiser says any snow in the area will be very high up in the mountains, and that the lower valleys will continue to be very dry and warm for this time of year for the next six to 10 days. EastIdahoNews.com will keep you updated on whether you can expect a white Christmas.

“We’re not expecting significant precipitation after (Tuesday night),” Kaiser says. “And again, that’s going to be only really high up in the mountains.”

See the latest forecast and traffic cameras on the EastIdahoNews.com weather page.

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