BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — We hit the kind of record we don’t want to see in a desert the airport had the driest February on record with only .08” of an inch of precipitation.

To put things in perspective, the airport has been keeping records since 1940. If you really want to understand our climate, it’s important for me to mention that prior to 1940, the official readings were conducted near downtown Boise. Back in 1889, we only had .04” of an inch of precipitation for the month of February. The point is, we can go through very dry cycles and very wet cycles.

The reason for the dry spell has been the persistent high that has been hugging the west coast pushing the storm track away. The good news is that the high appears to be weakening for now and the storm track is inching closer to Idaho. In fact, our northern ski resorts had 4-5” of snow today. As you look at the above satellite, you’ll note the main low is well off the coast. As it slowly moves toward Idaho it will keep us in a southwest flow. That is a warm flow. Look for high temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday to be in the low to mid 60’s! That’s near-record territory for temps.

We may see a few spotty showers tomorrow. We’ll have to wait until Thursday for the center of the low to move across the state. This will usher in colder air and bring a better chance of valley rain and mountain snow.

Long-range computer models are suggesting that the pattern could turn more active next week. At this point, I’ll hold back the enthusiasm until we get closer to that timeframe.

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