Feeling hot in Boise? Expect even hotter temperatures. Here’s what’s on the way

Welcome to the hottest time of the year, Boise. And it’s somehow going to get hotter.

When the clock ticked past midnight early Thursday, Boise officially entered its hottest period of the year based on climatological data, with high temperatures averaging 95 degrees between July 21 and Aug. 1.

High temperatures over the weekend will remain around average, according to the National Weather Service in Boise, before creeping over 100 degrees by Tuesday.

“It gets that hot when there’s high pressure aloft,” Les Colin, lead forecaster at the Weather Service in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman on Thursday.

A high-pressure system is currently sitting over the desert southwest and the southern Rocky Mountains, Colin said, but will soon move north over Oregon. The system’s closer proximity to the Treasure Valley will produce hotter temperatures throughout the region.

Boise can expect temperatures to peak over 100 degrees throughout next week and into next weekend.

Keeping safe in the heat

While such hot temperatures provide the perfect excuse to get outside and enjoy summer activities, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious dangers for children and people over 65.

Heat stroke kicks in when the body cannot control its temperature and its sweating mechanism fails, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resulting in body temperature rising as high as 106 degrees within 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat stroke can result in death or permanent disability if not immediately treated.

“People should be mindful to always have a place to cool off. Make sure if you go out or travel, have something to drink,” Colin said. “Make sure you keep your animals well-watered and generally inside, out of the sun — basically, normal, common sense measures to not allow yourself to be overcome by the heat.”

The Weather Service tweeted tips on avoiding heat exhaustion and stroke and what the next step should be to alleviate the issue.

Heat exhaustion

• Dizziness

• Thirst

• Heavy sweating

• Nausea

• Weakness

What to do: Move to a cooler area, loosen clothing and sip on cool water. Seek medical help if the symptoms don’t improve because heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke.

Heat stroke

• Confusion

• Dizziness

• Becoming unconscious

What to do: Move the person to a cooler area, loosen clothing, remove any extra layers, and cool with water or ice.

When does it get cooler, and why?

The hottest part of the day in Boise is around 6 p.m., Colin said, before it eventually starts to cool down. Temperatures will be about 5 to 10 degrees cooler when the sun sets, but the coolest temperatures of the day won’t come until the morning, shortly before sunrise, as opposed to when the sun goes down.

“The low temperature of the night usually comes around sunrise when it’s been dark for the longest number of hours,” Colin said. “So that’s why it’s coldest at sunrise, not at midnight.”

Temperatures in the Treasure Valley will dip to as low as the mid-60s in the early morning, a stark contrast to temperatures in other parts of the country, such as the Midwest. For example, temperatures in Kansas City will peak at 102 degrees on Saturday but only drop to 82 in the early morning hours.

Boise can cool down so much at night because of the region’s minimal moisture during the summer months. Tracking data back to 1940, Boise averages just a quarter of 1 inch of rain in July.

“It’s able to cool down when it’s dry,” Colin said. “The drier it is, the greater the ability of the ground to radiate heat back out into space at night. And as dry as it is here, it can do that.”