Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Spokane, WA
Issued by NWS Spokane, WA
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909 FXUS66 KOTX 061735 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1035 AM PDT Sun Sep 6 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Cool and showery weather expected Sunday through Monday with isolated thunderstorms. Locally heavy rain will bring flooding concerns over recently burned areas and steep terrain late Sunday afternoon into Monday. - A warming and drying trend returns around the middle of next week. && .SYNOPSIS... Active weather sticks around through Labor Day Weekend with scattered showers, isolated thunderstorms, and cooler than normal temperatures. A warming and drying trend commences around the middle of next week as higher pressure returns to the region. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Monday: The slow moving low continues to move over the region. Precipitable water amounts continue to rise to 0.8-1.0 by Monday. The increasing moisture will bring a steady stream of clouds across the region. As the low moves east, the moisture swath shifts away from the Cascades and more over the Idaho Panhandle and eastern Washington. For Sunday, precip chances start mainly over the Idaho Panhandle and expands west through the afternoon and evening hours. Precip chances rise to 60-90 percent over southeast/east-central WA and central and southern ID Panhandle from Sunday evening through Monday morning. 24-hour probabilities from 5 PM Sunday to 5 PM Monday for 0.50 inches are between 70-90 percent, 60-80 percent for 0.75 inches and 30-60 percent for 1 inch. Afternoon and evening instability will lead to weak thunderstorm chances. Cape values are in the in the 400-800 J/kg range with moderate lapse rates support weak convection. The main threat with the thunderstorms will be lightning and gusty outflow winds. Winds will generally be light outside of the thunderstorms. Monday afternoon will be breezy with gusts near 25 mph across the Basin. Highs will be in 70s to low 80s. Lows will also be mild with a range of 40s to low 50s. Tuesday through Friday: The ensembles are in decent agreement for the extended. A flat ridge pattern will set up over the region as the Low exits. It will lead to dry, warming trend through the end of the week. Precip chances will be less than 10 percent through Thursday. Another trough will drop in from BC Friday as remnants of tropical system begin to press moisture into the Pacific Northwest. It is leading to increasing precip chances going into the weekend. NBM thunderstorm potential in around 10-20 percent across the Inland Northwest with highest percents over Northeast WA and Idaho Panhandle late Friday and Saturday. It is too early to have much confidence in the upcoming weekend weather but something to keep on the radar. Highs for the latter half of the week will be in the 80s. Overnight lows will be in the upper 40s and 50s. /JDC && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: An upper-level low continues to linger over the Pacific Northwest. A band of showers from Yakima to Moses Lake will move northwest into Wenatchee through the early afternoon. Showers then begin to increase across far eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle by mid afternoon with steadier rain expected Sunday evening into early Monday morning. Embedded thunderstorms will be possible Sunday evening. For the TAF sites, conditions will remain VFR through 06z Monday, before ceilings lower overnight into Monday morning with areas of MVFR conditions across the Idaho Panhandle and eastern third of Washington including KGEG/KSFF/KCOE/KPUW. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: There is high confidence for rain showers to move into extreme eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle Sunday afternoon and then becoming steadier in the evening. However, there is low confidence for thunderstorms to impact TAF sites. Between 12-18z Monday, HREF probability range from 50-70% for MVFR conditions for KGEG/KSFF/KCOE with 30% chance for IFR conditions at KGEG/KCOE. JW ----------------------- 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 75 50 68 49 72 49 / 20 70 50 30 20 0 Coeur d`Alene 75 49 64 48 70 48 / 30 80 70 40 20 0 Pullman 71 46 64 41 69 43 / 20 80 50 20 0 0 Lewiston 76 55 71 50 76 52 / 20 80 60 20 0 0 Colville 76 44 69 41 75 41 / 30 50 30 30 10 0 Sandpoint 71 48 59 44 67 44 / 30 90 90 70 20 0 Kellogg 73 48 58 46 66 47 / 50 100 90 50 20 0 Moses Lake 75 50 75 47 77 49 / 30 10 20 10 0 0 Wenatchee 75 57 76 53 79 58 / 30 20 0 0 0 0 Omak 77 50 76 50 79 52 / 30 30 20 20 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$