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000
FXUS66 KOTX 182158
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
258 PM PDT Thu Apr 18 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Cool and showery conditions continue today, before drying out and
becoming breezy Friday. Showers return for Saturday evening
through Sunday. Mild and dry weather returns for the start of
work week while showers arrive by mid week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Tonight through Saturday night: Showers have popped up again this
afternoon across the Eastern WA and ID Panhandle. So far we have had
reports of light snow, rain, and graupel with these showers. Expect
daytime temperatures to cool in the showers. Temperatures at our
office dropped from 47F to 39F as the showers passed through,
warming again behind to 45F about an couple hour later. In areas
that won`t see showers, daytime highs remain cool in the 50s.
Showers and winds will weaken in the early evening hours.

An upper level low will dig across the region that will tighten the
pressure gradient, creating gusty winds across the Columbia Basin.
Northeast winds will gust to 35 mph in the afternoon, decreasing
overnight. Besides the wind, conditions will warm slightly and dry
out, leaving sunny conditions for the region.

Weak ridging will build for Saturday, with another dry, sunny and
slightly warmer start to the day. Upper level clouds will move in
from the west ahead of the next system arriving Sunday. /KM

Sunday through Tuesday: A shortwave trough is on track to approach
from the west Saturday night into Sunday, increasing cloud cover and
bringing back chances for showers over the mountains. With the
arrival of this wave, winds will be breezy through the day on Sunday
gusting to 25-30 mph across the region. A cold front associated with
the shortwave will drop snow levels to 3-4 kft by Sunday morning, so
any mountain showers will likely be in the form of snow.

The breezy, showery weather will be short-lived, as weak ridging
will return to start off the workweek. Dry and mild weather looks to
prevail through at least the first half next week with temperatures
rising slightly above normal by Tuesday.

Temperatures will start off rather cold Monday morning in the low
30s, but will be quick to warm up after sunrise. Highs for Monday
will be in the low 60s for most locations, and on Tuesday they`ll
reach the upper 60s to low 70s.

Beyond Tuesday, forecast confidence dwindles. Models disagree on how
long the ridging pattern will stick around before our next low
pressure system moves in. Most models are hinting at the next low
approaching the Washington coast sometime in the Tuesday
night/Wednesday timeframe, putting us in a mild southwest flow
regime with intermittent showers through the end of the week. More
info to come on how that pattern change will play out as it gets
closer. /Fewkes

&&

.AVIATION...
00z TAFS: Showers have redevelop this afternoon, but confidence
of them going over any particular TAF location is low. VFR
conditions will prevail.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: There is high
confidence in VFR conditions through the TAF period.

-----------------------

Confidence descriptors:
Low - Less than a 30 percent chance
Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance
High - Greater than a 70 percent chance

For additional probabilistic information for NWS Spokane airports,
please refer to the Aviation Dashboard on our webpage:
https://www.weather.gov/otx/avndashboard

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane        32  56  33  64  39  57 /   0   0   0   0  40  30
Coeur d`Alene  30  54  31  63  38  54 /  10   0   0   0  50  40
Pullman        30  56  33  64  37  52 /   0   0   0   0  60  30
Lewiston       35  64  36  71  43  61 /   0   0   0   0  50  20
Colville       27  56  26  63  35  58 /  10   0   0   0  40  50
Sandpoint      30  51  31  59  38  51 /  10   0   0   0  50  60
Kellogg        30  51  32  62  39  49 /  20   0   0   0  60  60
Moses Lake     36  63  38  69  40  63 /   0   0   0   0  20  10
Wenatchee      37  60  37  63  41  59 /   0   0   0   0  20  10
Omak           35  61  34  65  40  64 /   0   0   0   0  30  10

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...None.
&&

$$