Roland Steadham

An approaching cold front is finally energizing the atmosphere across southwest Idaho. We're seeing showers and scattered thunderstorms moving in from Owyhee and Malheur County. Some of these storms could generate winds as high as 50 mph. Anticipate pockets of rain that will last through the early morning hours. By sunrise, this first wave of moisture will begin to move east of the Valley. This will also bring cooler temperatures to much of the region that will continue through the upcoming weekend. The low responsible for tonight's cold front will remain nearly stationary over Washington. This will keep our pattern unsettled through Friday bringing a mix of occasional showers, breezy conditions and cooler temperatures. However, we will also see plenty of sunshine in the mix as well. By Thursday, high temperatures will cool into the 60's. We will begin to dry out by Friday as the low weakens but the cool air will stick around through the weekend in the 60's with sunny to partly cloudy skies.

The final rain event will move into Western Idaho tonight. This will bring pockets of rain, heavy at times, isolated thunderstorms and cooler temperatures. This heaviest and steadiest rain will fall between midnight and sunrise Friday morning. The showers will begin to taper off in the mid-morning. Look for highs in the low 50's. In the was of the front, look for breezy to windy conditions on Saturday under a mixture of sun and clouds with highs in the low 60's. I expect to see partly cloudy and breezy conditions on Sunday.

Firebird Raceway is preparing for its 31st annual Halloween Classic, an event that has become a staple for racers nationwide and families in the Treasure Valley. Known as more than just a drag racing event, the Halloween Classic is celebrated as one of the largest "trunk 'er treat" gatherings in the country.

Hurricane Melissa is south of Jamaica and is poised to make landfall as a Major Category 4-5 hurricane sometime on Tuesday. The sustained winds are currently at 175 mph. The problem is that the storm is almost stalled. The current speed is only 2 mph. That makes it difficult to track and projected timing of the landfall and intensity. Needless to say, this could be the worst storm in the history of Jamaica. It could bring a storm surge of 13' and between 15-30" of rain. Not too many places can survive that. We won't really understand the impact of this hurricane for weeks. The models take Melissa from Jamaica into Eastern Cuba as a Major Hurricane. From there, she's expected to move into the Central Bahamas before turning out to sea.

Hurricane Melissa is going to go down in the record books as one of the most intense hurricanes to impact the Caribbean. Melissa slammed the northwest coast of Jamaica this morning with 185 mph winds, torrential rain and 10' storm surge. At the time of landfall, the central pressure of the hurricane was 892mb. Central pressure is the true indicator of storm intensity. The lower the pressure, the stronger the wind. A central pressure of 892mb makes Melissa the third most intense hurricane ever recorded. This ties with the Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 which devastated the central Florida Keys with a 25' storm surge. The strongest hurricane ever recorded was Wilma in 2005 with a pressure of 882mb. The second strongest was Gilbert which hit the Yucatan Peninsula in 1988. It will take weeks to truly assess the damage from Melissa. The eastern part of Jamaica was spared the core of the most damaging winds. But the northwest corner of the island took a direct hit.

The West has seen a nice frequency of storms. The only thing is that most of the storms have been packed with warm air, or the storms have been favoring Central

The pattern change that we have been waiting for could be starting for Idaho as an atmospheric river is developing over the Northwest. The rain and snow we're seeing tonight is the leading edge of many surges of moisture that will continue repeatedly through the middle of next week. The moisture is originating from Pacific Ocean so it's not packing a lot of cold air. The result will be periods of valley rain and mountain snow. The snow levels will fluctuate between 5,000 to 6,000 feet. That means that some of the mountain valleys will see an occasional rain/snow mix. The type of precipitation will depend on altitude and the time of day. But the good news is we'll finally start developing our snowpack which has been delayed by a few weeks.

CBS2 Boise — A significant change in the pattern is going to take place this week as high pressure begins to move away from the Western States.

We have been stuck in this weather pattern for over two weeks. While ski resorts expect snow this time of the year, they've been seeing snow, only to have it ch