#idahowind

Every area has its “quirks” when it comes to weather and “natural phenomena”; no place is 100% perfect 100% of the time. Such an area just doesn’t exist, and, of course, some tend to have more of these quirks than others. During my next two IdahoSwampRat segments, I’m going to point out two quirks for each area: Florida and Idaho. So, without further ado, let’s talk about Idaho.

High Wind

You might think, with most of the cities in Idaho, including Nampa, Twin Falls, and Boise, all being in a valley (Nampa and Boise in the Treasure Valley and Twin Falls being in Magic Valley) that wind wouldn’t be an issue. That assumption is wrong.

Is it windy all of the time? No. I wouldn’t even say most of the time. However, when the wind does come around, beware. Remember that line spoken by Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace about sandstorms? A storm is picking up and Anakin says, “You'll never reach the outskirts in time...sandstorms are very, very dangerous.” It’s more like that, and in many cases, it’s not much different. Much of Idaho is still farmland, and when a wind storm strikes, all of the topsoil gets picked up and blows with the wind, turning it into a sandstorm. Check out this wind storm that happened back in June. The storm didn’t last more than an hour or so, but it was all people could talk about the next day and there was debris all over the roads in the morning.

In addition, it’s not uncommon for these wind storms to wreak havoc on transportation, with trucks losing control on the road and causing accidents. Back in March, Nicki and Steve Cunningham were minding their own business, driving over the Malad Gorge Bridge, when they were hit by a sudden gust of wind. The wind caused their pickup to go over the side of the bridge. Their truck dangled from a safety chain attached to their camper trailer for over an hour while they watched their belongings fall into the canyon, over 80 feet below.

So, yeah, I guess you can say that they can be very, very dangerous.

Smoke

Another issue that exists in much of Idaho that most people do not know about is the smoke. Have you heard of the infernos that seem to happen almost every summer in California? Guess where most of that smoke ends up? Yep, you’ve got it, Idaho! The weather pattern in much of this part of the country is for the wind to blow from the Pacific Ocean eastward, and when that happens and there’s fire in the West, Idaho has issues with smoke. In addition, this year has been particularly dry, with much of Oregon having problems with fires as well, so that means more smoke for Idaho.

Does Idaho have fire problems in the summer as well? Yes, it does. Idaho gets very little rain from June to September, so, yep, some of the smoke comes from home-grown fires as well. In matter of fact, in July, Idaho had 20 active fires. The way many Idahoans check the air quality is simply by simply going outside and looking around. If you live in a valley and you can’t see mountains in the distance, the air quality is bad.