Boise Climate

Boise is considered to have a semi-arid climate, with for quite distinguishable seasons. Boise experiences summer tempertures of 100 °F (38 °C) eight days in a typical year, and 90 °F (32 °C) on 51 days.  Yet because of the aridity, average temperature variations can exceed 30 °F (17 °C) in summer, making for perfect romantic summer nights.  To add to this, in the height of the summer, dusk does not arrive until nearly 10 PM. 

There is a movie night every Friday night during the summer at Settler's Park

Winters are moderately cold, with a December average of 30.7 °F (−0.7 °C), and lows falling to 0 °F (−18 °C) or below on an average of three nights per year. Snowfall averages 19 inches (48 cm), but typically falls in bouts of 3 inches (8 cm) or less.  While the kids will not be out of school, or even delayed often, just 30 minutes away, is great skiing at Bogus Basin Recreational Association, a non-profit organization.  Extremes have ranged from −28 °F (−33 °C) on January 16, 1888 to 111 °F (44 °C), as recently as July 19, 1960; temperatures have reached −25 °F (−32 °C) and 110 °F (43 °C) as recently as December 22, 1990 and June 28, 2015, respectivel

Snow covers the mountains outside Boise, with plenty of skiing at Bogus Basin

Both the spring and fall are mild. Autumn is brief; while the awakening from winter to spring is gradual.  It is a regular site to see people out, enjoying the milder weather during both the fall and the spring.

Boise, the City of Trees, puts on a spectacular show of beauty when fall arrives

The cherry blossoms are among the first blossoms of spring, as seen here, at the Eternal winds sculpture of Boise State

Precipitation is usually infrequent and light, especially so during the summer months. It averages approximately 11 inches annually, as compared to 37 inches, which is the average across the entire United States.  This necessitates the need to water your lawn and garden regularly, as only 88 days per year, on average yeild any measureable precipitation.  The good news is, that Boise has approximately 209 sunny days every year.  Another benefit of less precipitation is less humidity.  Our comfort index, which is based on humidity during the hot months, is a 68 out of 100, where higher is more comfortable. This is significantly better than the US average of 44.

Tornadoes are rare in Ada County and the Boise area. Since 1950, only twelve (12) tornadoes have been documented within the county, and four of those were during the same storm on August 3, 2000, which is also the most recent date a tornado was documented in the area. None of the tornadoes have been ranked higher than an "F1" on the Fujita scale, with and no injuries or fatalities ever documented.

 The climate is ideal for all sorts of gardening from spring through the summer.  Most vegetables thrive, with regular watering.  This includes tomoates, onions, carrots, broccoli, squash, kale, mint, chives, and of course potatoes.  It is not uncommon to see fruit trees, heavy with plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries, apples and pears at the end of the summer, as fruit trees of many varieties do extremely well in this climate.

As such, there are several gardening clubs, as well as food preservation cooperatives.  There is also a weekly Farmer's Market downtown Boise, which is extremely popular with the local residents.

The Boise Farmer's Market is a wonderful opportunity to find local products, including fresh fruits and vegetables