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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Winter inversion season has arrived…

Winter inversion fills the Treasure Valley with fog, while above, at Bogus Basin, there are clear, blue skies and sunshine on Tuesday morning (Betsy Russell)
Winter inversion fills the Treasure Valley with fog, while above, at Bogus Basin, there are clear, blue skies and sunshine on Tuesday morning (Betsy Russell)

Inversion conditions – when colder air, clouds and pollution get trapped in the valley, with clear skies above in the mountains – set in this morning in the Treasure Valley, seen here from above at Bogus Basin, which had bluebird skies. A yellow air-quality alert was issued for Boise by the Idaho DEQ, with a prediction for moderate air quality continuing through Wednesday. But by mid-afternoon today, the clouds had lifted down below, and up on the hill, as we left, the fog was arriving with a few snow flurries. As I’m posting this, it’s 22 degrees in Boise and 15 degrees up on the mountain, which is the opposite of an inversion.

Still, the forecast calls for inversion conditions tomorrow, too. If so, I know where it’ll be clear…



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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