Natural Disasters, Bugs, and Extreme Weather in Boise Idaho
You’ve all got them, you all think about them, and they are actually a huge factor in people deciding where to live that no one really talks about – but we are talking about it today – your worries about natural disasters, extreme weather, and bugs. Before you know where you want to move, you know you’re wondering about if you’ll deal with ice storms, flooding, snakes, spiders…all the things that have made the subject of so many great Hollywood movies.
And actually, I get asked these questions all the time – someone calls, and we have the usual conversations about cost of living in Boise, the weather in general, areas to visit, you know, the general things, and then inevitably someone will ask a bit timidly about spiders, tornadoes, fire ants, as just asking reveals a fear they don’t think everyone else has. So I want to tell you that first, you are all in the same boat together when it comes to having fears about these things, and second, I 100% believe that the amount of bugs, extreme weather, and natural disaster possibilities have way, way more effect on where people choose to live and home values of certain areas of the state than data analysts will ever account for.
For example, when I visit my sister in the Dallas area and see their water snakes, fire ants, and massive wasp things that burrow in the ground and jump out at any time on unsuspecting barefooted children…oh and hear about their crazy ice storms, no…just no. That’s why house prices are cheaper there.
I hear from my friends in Florida who have a pool but have to have a massive screen around it to keep bugs and critters out, and occasionally batten down the hatches for an incoming hurricane…nope, not for me, even if houses are cheaper than in Boise.
Let’s start with what to expect for extreme weather and natural disasters in Boise.
Well, it’s not much, if anything at all. If you want to see all about general Boise weather, watch my weather video I will link below. But as far as extremes go- and I’m not talking about regular 4 seasons, so sit down, San Diego, but I mean the kind of weather that will cause damage, and the type of weather events people will worry about when their brain can’t calm down at 2:00 am. So, let’s go through the list quickly and I’ll let you know if there’s a concern here in the Boise Idaho area.
Hurricanes – Not a chance, no ocean close by
Tsunamis – nope
Tornadoes – Well I would say zero since I haven’t heard of them in 20 years of living here, but according to naturaldisasters.com, Idaho averages 3 tornadoes a year and is ranked 43rd in the nation for risk of tornadoes. If there is a tornado in Idaho, it is generally out where no one lives, in the Southeast Idaho area, and many barely form and are very brief. So I do not worry about this ever.
Ice storms – I cannot speak for ice storms in south east or north Idaho, but in the Boise area, they are very, very rare. In fact, I think I can recall 2 times in 20 years when we have had weather that created ice that was not the same as ice that comes from the natural cycle of melting snow. One was this winter, it had been very cold, but for some reason rained, and then roads were like an ice sheet for a couple of nights. But it wasn’t a lot, so I’ve never seen, and I don’t think the Boise area ever has had an ice storm that has caused downed trees, broken power lines, roof damage, that kind of thing that happened in Texas this past winter. And if you are watching this and you’re from north Idaho or Southeast Idaho, put in the comments below if you ever get debilitating ice storms, but Boise area does not.
Thunderstorms and hail – we do have several thunderstorms a year, but they are usually a couple hours, usually come with some heavy rain, maybe some wind and interesting clouds, and occasionally hail. It is common for us to get little, tiny hail for like 5 minutes 3 or 4 times a year, just enough for everyone to get really excited for a minute. One time several years ago, we did have golf ball sized hail quickly, and it did damage many people’s roofs. But it’s not something to worry about here as large hail is incredibly rare.
Massive Snowfall – So as you can see in my general weather video, which is linked below, Boise does get snow, but not much in the world of snow accumulation. Like this past week, we actually had some amount of snow every day, but it piled up maybe 2 inches and then melted in a few hours. But we did have the Snowmegeddon of 2016 where the snow piled up a few feet here and didn’t melt for a few months, So, while more than a few inches of snow is possible, debilitating snow in the Boise area is highly unlikely.
Earthquakes – would you believe that Idaho actually has a lot of earthquakes? It is a super geologically active state, but most of the time the earthquakes are deep under the mountains and cannot be felt. And everyone in Boise thought, we’ll never have an earthquake here, until March of 2020, when the world was already ending, and then Mother Nature thought it would be a good joke to throw in a 6.5 earthquake that was felt very strongly in the Boise area. It was a shock, to say the least, but I think the extent of the damage was like someone had a picture frame fall over, since the epicenter wasn’t too close by. History shows that the area has had earthquakes similar to that one about once every 20-30 years. So, no, we don’t’ have earthquake straps on our water heaters or teach kids to go under their desks at schools, but I mean, what did we all learn from 2020, never say never. Except to hurricanes and tsunamis. I think I can say never to those here in Idaho. I think…
Flooding – the Boise area is not considered a flood prone area. We have a high desert climate, and we don’t have a particular rainy season. But there can be flooding along the rivers when we’ve had a great snowfall and then it melts too fast. So, if you are going to live very close to a river, it could be a concern for you, and flood insurance may be required, but other than that, the risk of flooding is very low. And sorry to keep bringing Texas into this, but they know flooding is a problem, so they have those massive rain gutters to try to prevent flooding, so no, we have nothing even close to that here.
Mudslides – In general in the Boise area, this is not anything of concern. However, there are always possibilities for mudslides and avalanches up in the canyon roads in the mountains, and it is not uncommon for a rock or mudslide to happen once or twice a year and close a mountain road while they clean it up. But that doesn’t affect the Boise area.
Fires and smoke – So, it’s true. Often times Idaho is the most fire ridden state in the west. Before you say, that’s it, I’m not moving to Boise, let me explain. One reason you don’t hear about fires in Idaho is because they rarely affect any structures or people. They are almost all in the very rugged terrain of the Idaho wilderness, which, by the way, covers over 61% of our state. Idaho also does not suppress fires, and generally has a “let it burn” approach so nature can clean out the underbrush of the wilderness. They also control forest fires with controlled burns. So are fires of concern in the Boise area? – generally not at all, except for the foothills, which, do have brush fires from time to time, but again, the fire department is on top of that and gets them put out very quickly before they have a chance to spread. And, due to the type of grass and sagebrush on the hills, they don’t generally burn quickly and respond well to fire lines.
But smoke, well yes, we do have smoke. From forest fires. And usually from other states. The wind blows the smoke into our valley, and just like everyone else coming here from the west, the smoke likes it so much, it decides to settle in. Some years we have very little smoke, and other summers it can hang around for weeks. So, this is not really extreme weather, it doesn’t damage property, but I guess it’s something to be aware of.
And last but not least, do you have a large chance of getting “Pompeiied” by a volcano in the Boise area like you do in Portland or Seattle? Well, everyone says no as there are no active volcanoes close by, however… National Geographic says that Yellowstone is a massive caldera and is in prime time of its 600,000 year eruption cycle to wreak havoc on the west again. Boise is about 6-hour drive from Yellowstone, so I suppose, if conditions were correct, Boise could be affected, but I don’t worry about this at night and so I would say NO, no volcanic worries here.
So all in all, the Boise area is a very safe place to live weather wise and for a chance of a natural disaster..which, let’s be honest, is one reason people are willing to pay more for housing here than in places that are laden with extreme weather.
Okay..if I’ve missed an extreme weather, we probably don’t have it here, but feel free to ask questions in the comments below.
On to the creepy crawlies that I think some people are more worried about than natural disasters.
So due to our high desert climate, we have very little humidity. We also have winters with freezing temperatures for a few months, so that combination does not make for a very bug friendly environment. Many people have pest control, but I do not, and except for the occasional jumping spider here and there and ants, I don’t feel like we need it at all. Let’s go through a few bugs and other disliked animals.
Spiders – We do have jumping spiders, and we do have wolf spiders, but I’ve only seen them out in my garden. We have black widows, but again, in typical communities with lots of green lawn, they are rare, and I’ve seen maybe like 3 in our garage over 20 years. I could imagine you would see more if you live in the drier, grassier or desert areas of the valley. I am super not fond of spiders, and in general, I don’t feel like they are a problem here at all.
Tics and fleas – We can get tics in the spring in the tall grasses of the foothills, or if you lived on land. Again, in our subdivision with watered lawns, my dog only gets little tics from either camping in the mountains or walking in the foothills in the late spring, and for her, it’s maybe 5 a year we will find. There have been worse seasons than others. But we’ve never had them on us, and we spend a lot of time in the foothills. And this goes along with fleas, we’ve never had to get our dog flea medicine or a flea collar. They don’t fare well here with the cold winters, and maybe if you live on land, you will need flea control for your pets, but even with our dog being in the foothills almost daily, she’s never had fleas.
Mosquitoes – these vary all over the area. In the areas where they do mosquito abatement, like in Eagle, Boise, and Meridian, mosquitos are not a problem. They also use abatement along the whole river and greenbelt, so we can go to that area all summer and not worry about them. Unless – you go to the mountains…then you better have some good mosquito protection, because they are certainly in the mountains. And we don’t have anything like no-see-ums, or biting gnats, or chiggers, or any of those things that would prevent me from moving to certain states.
Flies – we do have a fly season, and that is fall, we do have a few weeks where the flies try to come in the house so they don’t die for the winter, or for whatever reason, but even then, it’s not like there are enough flies to prevent a barbecue or swim party during that time of year. If you live by farms, the flies will be worse during the fly season, or just a warning to all those people who want to get backyard chickens, the flies will be worse.
Wasps and Bees – We do have wasps and bees here, and the wasps are normal, they are not the hellian beasts Texas has. It is common to have wasp catchers in yards to try to help with wasps in the summer. Sometimes they aren’t a problem, and sometimes we’ve had to move the food inside when a few wasps just can’t stay away.
Termites and Ants – So it is rumored that termites can live in the Boise area. I have never heard of them, I’ve never seen evidence of them on a home inspection report, and I thought that they couldn’t live here due to the winters, however, some people say they can live here. So that is super rare, as well as carpenter ants and the like. We do have regular black ants that come in the house during certain seasons looking for crumbs. We don’t have fire ants, and I’ve only seen the red ants when we are out camping.
Scorpions and centipedes – so these are rare in the Boise area. However, there can be scorpions out in the desert areas outside of the treasure valley. I suppose that little centipedes live here as well, but I’ve only seen them in the garden. I would consider scorpions and centipedes a very low danger in the Boise area.
And any other bug you can think of that is associated with more humid climates, we probably do not have…no fireflies either though. No sounds of cicadas at night, but lots of sounds of crickets.
Snakes – yes, they live here but are not a problem. There may be a rattle snake here or there in the foothills and you may have more chance of seeing them if you live on the South side near the desert mountains. No poisonous water snakes or anything like that.
So for anyone who would like to choose a place to live based on low chances of natural disasters, extreme weather, or low diversity of super scary bugs, then the Boise, Idaho area may be the place for you!
If I am totally honest, the lack of scary bugs or scary weather is one of the reasons I love living here. And again, those are seriously overlooked reasons that truly affect the cost of living somewhere. Yes, I could buy a cheaper house in the south or Midwest, but umm…have you seen their bugs and weather??? No thanks, I’m staying right here in safe Boise, Idaho.
WHAT’S THE WEATHER REALLY LIKE IN BOISE, IDAHO?: https://youtu.be/4eyPmZtgb-w
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