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I've searched the form and can't find much that seems to be recent... Is the air quality just as bad in other towns or areas around Boise (within a reasonable drive time 30-60min)?
The worst air quality happens during inversions where smog/smoke is held in the valley by (cold or hot?) air hovering over. So the higher up you get, the better quality air you will have. It can be overcast with an AQ warning in Boise, and a 20 minute drive up to Bogus Basin will get you sunshine and clear air.
I'm not sure if the inversions affect Nampa/Caldwell. I'm sure someone else will know.
I've searched the form and can't find much that seems to be recent... Is the air quality just as bad in other towns or areas around Boise (within a reasonable drive time 30-60min)?
Last night, South of the Garrity exit off the 84, it was winnnnndy! Cool too, today is GORGEOUS with a need to wear a sweater when in the shade this morning. Haven't looked, but am assuming the air quality is pretty good too.
Oh that is awesome!! It has been in the upper 90s with high humidity here in Oklahoma City, OK.... I very much dislike this state and this place
Question, are you able to enjoy every season there? I've lived in Michigan, where you can't enjoy being outside in winter, and here in Oklahoma you can't enjoy the summer. I need some place where I can enjoy being outside.
I'm a walker and I make it out almost every day year 'round. In the summer it's usually nicer in the morning. We do have days of 100 and over too but it's almost always arid. Only occasionally do we have humidity. This has been an unusually cool summer. Last night's low was in the upper 40's and I'm sitting here in sweat pants and a hoodie in JULY till it warms up a bit.
In the winter, just have the right clothing and you'll be fine. I have 2 weights of coats, snow boots for slushy days, leather boots and tennis shoes when I'm staying on dryish pavement. Gloves, ear muffs, a stiff winter scarf that will stand up to protect my nose from the cold a bit, and an umbrella. That gets me out comfortably all days except windy days which we don't have many of.
This has been an unusual weather year. Actually, it's been a pretty perfect weather year so far. We got spring temps in Feb, we got an extremely hot June but a very moderate (and autumn like) July, with some nice rainstorms too. This chilly spell has been a nice reprieve. Waiting to see what August and Sept bring. Sept/Oct are my favorite months here.
With respect to OP, because of the unusual weather, we've had unusually good air quality this year. Makes up for the extremely bad years we had in 2012 and last year.
Oh that is awesome!! It has been in the upper 90s with high humidity here in Oklahoma City, OK.... I very much dislike this state and this place
Question, are you able to enjoy every season there? I've lived in Michigan, where you can't enjoy being outside in winter, and here in Oklahoma you can't enjoy the summer. I need some place where I can enjoy being outside.
I lived in Norman for four years a long time ago, but still had family there up until about ten years ago, so have an idea of what you're coming from. I'm coming up on my fourth year in Boise, so my personal experience is limited, so I've including what I've been told by friends and neighbors.
OK summers used to be blazing hot and dry, but I guess with Lake T-Bird, the humidity has come to stay. The Boise area is like OK used to be, only about 10-12 degrees cooler. Hot and dry here from June to August, with highs in from mid-80s to upper 90s, and occasional trips into triple digits. Fortunately night temps are about 30 degrees cooler, so very refreshing. Fall is fairly long with gradually lowering temps. Unlike OK, we usually don't get the Indian Summer....once it gets cold, it's going to stay that way. I ride off-road motorcycles, and usually our last good time for riding in the desert outside town is the Thanksgiving weekend. After that it's generally too cold except for the real hardcore types. Boise is considered "the city of trees", so we get all the fall colors through the whole autumn period.
Winter. I think they're pretty mild overall. I don't know what Lake T-bird did to your winters, but there wasn't much worry about snow way back when (1960's).....just the windy ice storms and very cold temps. In Boise there are usually 3 or 4 snows during the winter, each with 3-4" of snow. Unless there is some strange weather pattern, the snow is generally gone in a few days. Basically the majority of our winter is just cold and pretty much slow-less. Winter temps seem to range from upper 20s to near 40 throughout the period, with overnight lows maybe 10-15 degrees less. We do sometimes get a thermal inversion that can bring temps colder than normal and make the air quality nasty, but the longest one I've seen has only been about two or three weeks of that before it clears up and gets back to normal. Personally, I do not like snow at all, so the small & short snowfalls are one of the reasons we chose to retire here. The cold temps are a little bothersome, but it's fairly easy to stay warm.
Spring is the best time, by far. When the temps start going up, the trees start budding and the first few hardy flowers push through, the crisp clear skies and bright sun just make me smile and feel happy. This year we had an exceptionally early Spring; it basically arrived the end of January. While that means a lot less winter, it also has the problem of not enough freezing days to kills all the bugs and other unpleasant critters. Spring normally shows up sometime in March and it stays extremely nice until late May before starting to heat up.
So, yes, we get all four seasons and they're very distinct. None of them are really bad at all. Summer is the only one that can be unpleasant, and even then it's not too bad. Even on the warmest days, it's still pleasant til noon or a little later, and the peak heat of the day generally doesn't arrive until 4 or 5pm. After that it cools off fairly quickly. Most of the time I've got all my windows open and the A/C is off by about 10 or 11 pm, and I can enjoy the cool night air until well into the next morning.
Hope this helps, and I apologize for getting so long-winded.
air quality is a major drawback in the valley. My father has empysema and moved because of the air quality. Even I struggle with it from time to time. It will likely get worse as traffic and population increase also...
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