Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Mountain Home has lots of air traffic? - Airport so lots of wind? Is IF hotter than Pokey in the summer and which one between the two has colder winters. I would think that wind in IF keeps the temps down vs. no wind so maybe cooler in IF than Pokey?
Mtn. Home has a large Air Force base. That's the air traffic. There aren't any commercial flights to Mtn. Home.
Poky is warmer by a few degrees than Idaho Falls year round. Im not sure, but it's about a 4 degree difference. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Very seldom the same.
Likewise, Rexburg is always a little cooler than I.F., and Ashton cooler than Rexburg.
It's not the wind that determines the temps here; its all about the altitude.
In a string, Pocatello is the lowest, followed by Idaho Falls, followed by Rexburg. Each is higher than the last all the way up to Island Park, which is as high and as cold as Yellowstone.
Poky is lower, so its warmer. However, it's also in a hole, so it's less breezy, but during times of strong winds, Poky will get them too, just like I.F.
...and still be a few degrees warmer.
Mtn. Home has a large Air Force base. That's the air traffic. There aren't any commercial flights to Mtn. Home.
Poky is warmer by a few degrees than Idaho Falls year round. Im not sure, but it's about a 4 degree difference. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Very seldom the same.
Likewise, Rexburg is always a little cooler than I.F., and Ashton cooler than Rexburg.
It's not the wind that determines the temps here; its all about the altitude.
In a string, Pocatello is the lowest, followed by Idaho Falls, followed by Rexburg. Each is higher than the last all the way up to Island Park, which is as high and as cold as Yellowstone.
Poky is lower, so its warmer. However, it's also in a hole, so it's less breezy, but during times of strong winds, Poky will get them too, just like I.F.
...and still be a few degrees warmer.
I am just so used to fog and or in the 55-65 degree area all year round. Anything over 77 and I need the air conditioner.
I see that the OP hasn't returned since posting their original question/posting.
If in fact you "abhor" winds that blow 5 of 7 days at over say 12 mph, Idaho Falls would be a miserable place for you to live.
I.F. is a windy place. In any season of the year, activities may be curtailed by winds that disrupt those activities. Spring, summer, fall, winter, it doesn't matter.
As some of the folks above have posted in scientific charts and numbers, the AVERAGE wind here is 20 mph. Assuming that on some days during the summer, it is stifling hot and still with no wind (it actually happens),that means the rest of the year averages more than 20 mph. In most cases much more. Hell, we go out and upturn our patio furniture to keep it from blowing across the yard, and untethered trampolines are common UFO's here. I had a neighbor's patio table and umbrella come crashing down on my patio, shattering the glass table top in a brief summer tempest a few years ago.
Dust bad enough to close roadways, blowing trash on trash day, migrating leaves, etc. are daily annoyances here in various seasons, as are the pressure gradients that cause the winds. People sensitive to rising or falling barometric pressure also find it difficult in the I.F. area.
If wind bothers you, this is not a good place to live.
I will agree, living in both, Pocatello is warmer year round than Idaho Falls, though both can get hot or cold depending on the season. The only banana belt in Idaho is Lewiston in west central.
I see that the OP hasn't returned since posting their original question/posting.
If in fact you "abhor" winds that blow 5 of 7 days at over say 12 mph, Idaho Falls would be a miserable place for you to live.
I.F. is a windy place. In any season of the year, activities may be curtailed by winds that disrupt those activities. Spring, summer, fall, winter, it doesn't matter.
As some of the folks above have posted in scientific charts and numbers, the AVERAGE wind here is 20 mph. Assuming that on some days during the summer, it is stifling hot and still with no wind (it actually happens),that means the rest of the year averages more than 20 mph. In most cases much more. Hell, we go out and upturn our patio furniture to keep it from blowing across the yard, and untethered trampolines are common UFO's here. I had a neighbor's patio table and umbrella come crashing down on my patio, shattering the glass table top in a brief summer tempest a few years ago.
Dust bad enough to close roadways, blowing trash on trash day, migrating leaves, etc. are daily annoyances here in various seasons, as are the pressure gradients that cause the winds. People sensitive to rising or falling barometric pressure also find it difficult in the I.F. area.
If wind bothers you, this is not a good place to live.
And we also get winds strong enough to pull your car door out of your hand and hit the next vehicle Yep, it happened, thankfully the owner of the other vehicle wasn't upset or concerned, meanwhile the $1700 damage to my car will be repaired in May.
I will agree, living in both, Pocatello is warmer year round than Idaho Falls, though both can get hot or cold depending on the season. The only banana belt in Idaho is Lewiston in west central.
So Pokey and IF are both equally as windy and dusty?
As some of the folks above have posted in scientific charts and numbers, the AVERAGE wind here is 20 mph.
Forgive me .... but.... LOL... I don't know where this info is coming from but it is not true. pnwguy's posted link is not average wind speed; it may be something like peak wind speeds recorded in each 24 hours, and then averaged across 365 days, but it is not average wind speed. And that site's nonsense numbers and lack of explanation of what they are showing is no reflection on pnwguy or anyone else whatsoever... the problem is in the source.
Here is one source that shows numbers of days within each month 'during which the wind reaches a certain speed' (i.e., not peak gusts). This source is probably the best for the OP to try to understand if they are concerned about the winds being over so many mph for so long. https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather...merica_5596475
Notice in the bar graph that it shows a predominance each month of winds reaching no more than 12 mph. And the range of winds reaching 17-24 mph is no more than 7.8 days per month and average around 4 or 5 days per month. So no way that 20 mph is the average wind speed. IMHO, 20 mph can only possibly be the peak wind gusts recorded each day averaged through the year.
This source also shows a wind rose that shows the number of hours per wind speed range and that shows the wind predominantly at under 0-12 mph in all directions. It does show the strongest winds begin from the SW, which certainly makes sense for IF.
And if you have been around the northern Rockies region, you know that eastern WY is far windier than any part of Idaho. (In fact, it is the windiest average speed locale in the lower 48 states, with the possible exception of Mt Washington NH.....) Per the WY Climate Atlas, Casper reaches a maximum mean wind speed in the spring, in the early afternoon, and that maximum mean wind speed is 12.3 mph for May in early afternoon and the mean is less throughout the rest of the year, and time of day. Wyoming Climate Atlas: Wind - Wyoming State Climate Office and Water Resources Data System
So... no way that the average wind in IF is 20 mph... not even close; it is probably an AVERAGE of 3 to 4 mph if you take the actual wind speeds (not peak gusts) every hour and average them through the year. (Seriously!) What might be of more interest is the daily peak wind speeds (not gusts), which I think is what the Metroblue data shows.
From long experience, it is definitely more windy in the foothills above Idaho Falls than in the city.
The average wind speed in either the foothills or I.F. (and the close surrounds), is most certainly not 20 MPH!
nm9 is much closer, with a guess of 3-4 MPH. That's the wind speed of calm air that is undergoing normal convection- heating and cooling.
The main reason why the foothills are windier is elevation. Convection starts a breeze, and elevation tends to increase it. The upwind side of a hill is always windier than the downwind side because the slope of a hill causes more propulsion to the air movement.
As the propulsion increases on the windward side, the back side tends to create a weak vacuum, which pulls the wind upward, further increasing the wind speed.
On a calm day when there's no pressure front moving in or out, the wind speed in the foothills tends to level out in its speed. But hills are hills. There's always enough pressure gradients to keep the winds going.
I've spend many days in our foothills from daylight to dusk. Coming down from them during a normally calm day it is very easy to notice the calmness of Idaho Falls in comparison.
I.F. lies close to the foothills, but not as close as several of the outlying villah
Besides being slightly lower, I.F. is also full of mature trees with a river running through it's middle. They tend to break up wind flow and cause it to eddy and slow down. The foothills are mostly tilled ground, so it's barren in comparison and offers little obstruction to the wind.
It's not something that is a detractor to living here at all to me. Calm allows humidity or dust to hang in the air, and wildfire smoke or other smelly stuff that drifts in slowly. A 3 mph breeze isn't enough to bother a person at all, but it's enough to move the junk in the air out, and once up in the foothills, that bad air gets blown out and/or diluted pretty quickly.
It's terrain that promotes wind movement, so there are times when a big pressure gradient is on the move and is shoving strong, fast winds ahead of it. Those are the windy days of 20 mph, but they are few in comparison to the normal light breeze that's here.
Even rarer are the ferocious winds. They come and they do come a'roaring. About 4-5 times a year. When they come, there's no place in Eastern Idaho that is calm, but they seldom last for more than a couple of hours.
But if a traveller happens to pass through on the rare day, that's the only experience he knows. So he'll say that Idaho Falls is a very windy city.
About once a decade, there will be a storm that comes at sunset and blows hard all through the night.
About once every 15 years, that storm will blow throughout the daylight hours the next day.
About once ever 20-30 years, that storm will last for 48 hours. And when it stops, everyone will have to shovel out for the following week or more.
Forgive me .... but.... LOL... I don't know where this info is coming from but it is not true. pnwguy's posted link is not average wind speed; it may be something like peak wind speeds recorded in each 24 hours, and then averaged across 365 days, but it is not average wind speed. And that site's nonsense numbers and lack of explanation of what they are showing is no reflection on pnwguy or anyone else whatsoever... the problem is in the source.
Here is one source that shows numbers of days within each month 'during which the wind reaches a certain speed' (i.e., not peak gusts). This source is probably the best for the OP to try to understand if they are concerned about the winds being over so many mph for so long. https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather...merica_5596475
Notice in the bar graph that it shows a predominance each month of winds reaching no more than 12 mph. And the range of winds reaching 17-24 mph is no more than 7.8 days per month and average around 4 or 5 days per month. So no way that 20 mph is the average wind speed. IMHO, 20 mph can only possibly be the peak wind gusts recorded each day averaged through the year.
This source also shows a wind rose that shows the number of hours per wind speed range and that shows the wind predominantly at under 0-12 mph in all directions. It does show the strongest winds begin from the SW, which certainly makes sense for IF.
And if you have been around the northern Rockies region, you know that eastern WY is far windier than any part of Idaho. (In fact, it is the windiest average speed locale in the lower 48 states, with the possible exception of Mt Washington NH.....) Per the WY Climate Atlas, Casper reaches a maximum mean wind speed in the spring, in the early afternoon, and that maximum mean wind speed is 12.3 mph for May in early afternoon and the mean is less throughout the rest of the year, and time of day. Wyoming Climate Atlas: Wind - Wyoming State Climate Office and Water Resources Data System
So... no way that the average wind in IF is 20 mph... not even close; it is probably an AVERAGE of 3 to 4 mph if you take the actual wind speeds (not peak gusts) every hour and average them through the year. (Seriously!) What might be of more interest is the daily peak wind speeds (not gusts), which I think is what the Metroblue data shows.
Ok. Thank you all for the above info. Exceptionally helpful. My consensus is that Idaho Falls is not as windy as I thought it would be and that is a very good thing!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yep, it happened, thankfully the owner of the other vehicle wasn't upset or concerned, meanwhile the $1700 damage to my car will be repaired in May.
