It’s snowing in Boise … again. Here’s how much snow has fallen and when it will warm up

Yes, Boise, technically it is spring. Just not in the way that many people expected.

For the second time this month, parts of the Treasure Valley were poised to receive an inch of snowfall, as flakes began falling on the City of Trees on Tuesday morning. Boise already received an inch of snow April 13, and it was supposed to be a once-in-six-year occurrence, which is the average amount of time between one-inch snowfalls in April in Boise.

But just five days later, the National Weather Service in Boise forecast another inch of snow in the Treasure Valley on grass and elevated surfaces. Due to warmer temperatures over the past couple of days, no accumulation was expected on roadways and sidewalks.

“We’ve got some reports of Southeast Boise getting close to an inch,” Stephen Parker, a meteorologist for the Weather Service in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday morning.

“We have one of our folks who lives near the Ada-Elmore county line, and he’s got close to an inch,” Parker continued. “At the airport so far, we just went out and did a measurement between 0.2 and 0.3 inches here.”

Higher elevations, such as Bogus Basin, had already received between 5 and 6 inches as of Tuesday morning, according to Parker.

An April snowfall of one inch is rare in Boise, but measurable snowfall — at least 0.1 inches — is more common than people probably think. Boise averages about three snow days in April per year, Parker said, and averages one snow day per year in May.

“April is a big transition month,” Parker said. “It’s still possible for the jet stream to swing down far enough to the south that we get cold enough to have this. So it always feels unusual, but it really isn’t.”

Will it finally warm up?

If you can look past the snow-covered Foothills and the fact that you still haven’t stored your winter coat, temperatures will warm up again this weekend. The Weather Service forecasts a high of 66 degrees Saturday and 71 degrees Sunday.

But it’s worth remembering that temperatures soared to a daily record of 82 degrees on April 10, just three days before Boise plummeted back into winter weather. And Parker doesn’t expect the warmth to stick around permanently this time, either.

“It does look like a nice ridge is going to build in over the next week or so,” Parker said. A ridge is an area of high pressure typically accompanied by calmer and warmer weather.

“But there’s no good predictability out beyond a week,” Parker continued. “But just personally, watching this season come by, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had one more trough that could bring snow close to valley floors later this month. But there really is no way to be sure at this point.”