15 Signs Boise Could Be in For a Harsh, Unforgiving Winter in 2024

We all know that person, right? The person who makes fun of you for drinking your pumpkin spice latte when it’s still 85º because “it’s not fall yet.” You don’t need that negativity in your life and technically fall began on September 1. 

Meteorologically speaking. Rather than marking the season by the position of the sun’s rays in relation to the equator, meteorologists break the seasons down into quarters. Meteorological fall runs from September 1-November 30, no matter what year it is. Astrological fall’s start day varies from year to year. This year, astronomical fall runs from September 23-December 20.

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Summer 2023 in Boise was significantly less oppressive than last year. This summer, we only experienced 11 days of triple-digit heat, as opposed to the 27 100º+ days that we suffered through in 2022. Still, you’ve told us that you’re looking forward to the change of seasons and cooler weather.  

The folks at the Farmer’s Almanac are already thinking beyond fall and have issued their long-range winter forecast, which they’ve given the cute nickname “The Brr is Back!” When it comes to the Northwest Region, they’re predicting that Idaho, Washington and Oregon will experience “seasonably cold, wet” conditions. Their weather “prognosticator goes on to say that our region will be unusually snowy and predicts heaving mountain snow will hit us the first week of February. 

Most good meteorologists will tell you long-range forecasts beyond 10 days are bogus, but you have to remember that the Farmer’s Almanac won’t reveal their “forecasting formula.” They say that it includes things like sunspot activity, tidal action of the moon and the position of the planets…and is calculated two years in advance with no edits.

We’ll always be curious about what things make it into the formula because they also share a list of not-necessarily-weather-related signs that a cold and harsh winter is ahead. To us, it sounds like a bunch of hocus pocus…but then again we’ve noticed one of these things happening A LOT at our Southeast Boise apartment. 

“Spiders spinning larger webs and entering your home in large numbers” appears on the list. Our entire porch is covered in disturbingly large webs. Spiders keep getting into our bathroom. They’ve fallen out of our shower curtain. We’ve watched them run under our toilet seat. They’re about the size of a quarter. They’re the LAST thing you want to experience at 4:30 a.m. but according to the Farmer’s Almanac, these creepy crawlies could be warning us that winter could be as unpleasant as finding them in our shower. 

What other things appeared on the list? Take a look for yourself!