Boise saw the hottest Dec. 18 in recent history Wednesday afternoon, beating out a high temperature record that stood for more than a century, according to the National Weather Service’s Boise office.
The agency measured temperatures at 59 degrees Wednesday afternoon. The previous record, set in 1917, was 58 degrees. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Boise office said “breezy southeast winds” kept temperatures warmer this morning, and sunshine throughout the day turned the temperature up.
The 2:30 p.m. post said there was still time for temperatures to rise even more, but meteorologist Korri Anderson told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview shortly before 4 p.m. that the temperature peaked at 59 degrees.
The average high temperature in Boise on Dec. 18 is 38 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.
Anderson said temperatures will remain in the low 50s tomorrow, but Boise won’t see the same wind pattern that contributed to Wednesday’s warming.
Anderson said the forecast is showing little chance of a white Christmas. He said precipitation is in the forecast beginning Saturday and tapering off around Christmas Day, but temperatures will likely be too high for snow.
Boise could see another inversion in the coming week, Anderson added.
With snow unlikely, Anderson said Boise could be moving toward a new record for the latest first snowfall of the season. The only measurable snow the Boise office has recorded thus far is one-tenth of an inch. This is the latest first snowfall since 1958, when the first snow fell on Dec. 30. The average first snowfall date is November 22.
