339
FXUS66 KOTX 091156
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
Issued by National Weather Service Seattle WA
456 AM PDT Sun Aug 9 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- A Red Flag Warning remains in effect along the east slopes of
  the Cascades through early this morning due to breezy westerly
  winds and low relative humidity values. Fire weather conditions
  will remain elevated along the Cascade gaps today, however,
  due to low RHs and breezy westerly winds picking back up this
  afternoon and evening.

- Widespread smoke and haze will continue to impact the region
  today. Some improvement is expected, except in the vicinity
  of or downwind of ongoing wildfires.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Zonal flow aloft will allow for a shortwave to pass through the
region tonight into Monday and will continue to promote elevated
fire weather conditions along the Cascade gaps. Widespread smoke
and haze will continue to impact the region over the next few days,
especially in the vicinity of or downwind of regional wildfires.
A quasi-zonal upper level pattern will continue through the first
half of the week, bringing periods of breezy westerly winds and
some slightly cooler temperatures to the region. A trough skirting
by to the north may bring some precipitaiton chances to northern
portions of the area by mid to late week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Today: Winds remain breezy along the Cascade gaps early this
morning in the wake of a shortwave trough that made its way
across the region. Red Flag conditions will continue through
the early morning hours for the east slopes of the Cascades,
where latest observations still show winds gusting between 25-40
mph in spots. While winds will continue to ease through the
morning hours, expect another round of breezy westerly winds to
develop this afternoon and evening as another shortwave traverses
the region. This will again lead to elevated to locally critical
fire weather conditions in the Wenatchee area and the Waterville
Plateau with gusts around 20-35 mph and relative humidities
primarily between 15-25 percent. The wildcard remains smoke
reducing temperatures in those areas, which would help reduce
fire risk. Elsewhere across the area, expect temperatures to
cool a few degrees today under the influence of zonal flow aloft
and another passing shortwave. Wildfire smoke and haze will continue
to impact the region, especially in the vicinity of or downwind
of ongoing wildfires.

Monday and Tuesday: Zonal flow will continue through at least
Tuesday, bringing near normal temperatures to the region and
breezy winds to the Cascade gaps in the late afternoons and
evenings.

Wednesday through Sunday: Confidence in the forecast decreases
heading into the second half of the week as a broad shortwave
trough sinks down from British Columbia. This system may bring the
first chance of precipitation in a few weeks to northern areas near
the Canadian border by Wednesday. While there is a 15-25% chance
of showers, preciptiation looks to remain rather limited with
this system. Small chances of (10-20%) of thunderstorms remain
possible in northeast WA and northern ID both Wednesday and
Thursday afternoon and evenings. Quasi-zonal flow will then
briefly return on Friday as the trough to the north exits the
area. Ensemble guidance remains indicative of an upper level
trough developing along the coast over the weekend and bringing
southwest flow aloft to the area. This could continue to raise
further concerns for thunderstorms across the region by the
weekend.

&&

.AVIATION...
12Z TAFs: Smoke and haze from regional wildfires will continue
to bring reduced visibilities and ceilings to the TAF sites today.
The majority of the sites this morning are reporting VFR to MVFR
conditions, though will likely see conditions continue to
deteriorate over the next several hours towards more MVFR and
localized IFR in spots. W/NW winds have continued to ease across
the Cascade gaps overnight, though will pick up again this afternoon
and evening with KEAT likely to see another round of wind gusts
between 25-30 kt. Latest HRRR guidance indicates that smoke coverage
across the region could improve somewhat this afternoon and
evening, allowing for ceilings and visibilities to improve back
towards more widespread MVFR/VFR across the area terminals.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in
smoke and haze continuing to impact the area terminals on Sunday,
but low confidence in extent of reduced vis/cigs. Moderate confidence
in the winds.

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

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        88  56  86  56  87  57 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Coeur d`Alene  87  55  85  54  86  55 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Pullman        84  49  83  48  84  49 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Lewiston       92  59  91  60  91  61 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Colville       88  49  87  48  88  49 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Sandpoint      84  52  83  50  84  51 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Kellogg        84  53  82  53  82  54 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Moses Lake     90  55  89  55  89  57 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Wenatchee      91  63  90  63  90  63 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Omak           91  58  91  59  90  59 /   0   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Air Quality Alert until 11 AM PDT Wednesday for Chelan,
     Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Douglas, Lincoln,
     Spokane, Grant, Adams, Whitman, Garfield, Asotin counties.

     Red Flag Warning until 6 AM PDT early this morning for East
     Portion of North Cascades National Park/Lake Chelan
     National Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East Washington
     Central Cascades (Zone 696)-East Washington North
     Cascades (Zone 698).

ID...Air Quality Alert until 11 AM PDT Sunday for Boundary, Bonner,
     Kootenai, Benewah, Shoshone counties.

     Air Quality Alert until 3 PM PDT Monday for Latah, Nez Perce,
     Lewis counties.

&&

$$