106
FXUS66 KOTX 040027
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
427 PM PST Tue Nov 3 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...
- Mostly dry conditions through Wednesday.

- Two systems moving in mid to late week will bring light rain
  and mountain snow.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Temperatures will be seasonal and it will be mostly dry through
Wednesday in the Inland Northwest. Mountain snow showers and
rain showers return later half of the week as two systems move
through. Unsettled conditions continue into the weekend and
early next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Tonight through Wednesday: While the overall pattern is a ridge
over top the Pacific Northwest. A weak shortwave will continue
to pull moisture in form the south. Precipitable water amounts
will increase to 0.5-0.6 of an inch or 120-140% of normal. It is
expected to only increase cloud amounts as precip chances still
remain less than 10% through tonight. The ridge briefly
rebounds behind the shortwave, as a trough starts to dig along
the coast on Wednesday. Fog is still expected impact portions of
the Inland Northwest but confidence is low on where and how low
visibility will be. Highs will be in the upper 40s to low 50s.
Overnight lows will be in the upper 20s and 30s.

Thursday through Saturday: The trough will push across the
region bringing mainly Cascade precip as the rain shadow effect
will limit precip across the rest of the region. With snow
levels around 4500 feet, Cascades passes are expected to get
light snow. Washington Pass has a 25-75 probability of 1 to 2
inches. Stevens is less with a Trace to 1 inch. Sprinkles are
possible across the rest of the region. Another wave will
quickly follow with more snow for the passes. Washington has a
1-3 inch spread. Stevens has a Trace to one inch expected. On
Friday, winds will be breezy across the Basin with gusts into
the low 20 mph range. Highs continue in the upper 40s to low
50s. Overnight lows stay in the upper 20s and 30s.

Sunday through Tuesday: The extended portion of the forecast
has trended to a cooler, wetter pattern as the ridge axis will
stretch from CA to Central MT. It will allow a trough to funnel
a steady stream of warm, moist air into the region. It brings
decent snow amounts to Washington Pass with a 25-75 probability
spread of 1 to 6 inches by Monday morning. Winds will also be
breezy across the Basin on Sunday with gusts into the 30s
possible. The region can expect a weak atmospheric river
continually bringing rounds of precip to the Cascades through
Tuesday. Temperatures trend warmer. Highs will be in the upper
40s to 50s. Overnight lows stay in the 30s and low 40s. /JDC

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS: Mid and high level clouds will continue to move into
the region through tonight before thinning Wednesday morning. A
few sprinkles possible in the evening. Overnight as the high
clouds begin to thin with a moist boundary layer areas of fog
and stratus are expected to again develop over the northern
valleys. Models also show a chance for fog and stratus
developing across the Columbia Basin into Spokane/Coeur d`Alene
area, the Palouse, and LC Valley. But with probabilities at 50
percent or less confidence in coverage more than patchy is low
so only went with a FEW-SCT low cloud deck for
KMWH/KGEG/KSFF/KCOE/KPUW/KLWS.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence
in VFR conditions for all TAF sites through this evening. Low
confidence in ceiling and visibility for all TAF sites except
KEAT after 11z Wednesday as areas of stratus and patchy fog
develop.

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

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        35  51  36  49  36  52 /   0   0  10  60   0  10
Coeur d`Alene  36  52  36  47  35  52 /   0   0   0  70  10  20
Pullman        34  51  35  49  34  51 /  10   0  10  60   0  10
Lewiston       38  53  40  55  38  55 /   0   0  10  60   0   0
Colville       28  53  32  49  29  51 /   0   0  20  60   0  20
Sandpoint      34  50  35  45  34  49 /   0   0   0  70  20  20
Kellogg        36  53  35  45  34  51 /   0   0   0  80  10  10
Moses Lake     30  53  35  57  33  55 /   0   0  30  10   0  10
Wenatchee      36  52  39  55  39  53 /  10   0  40   0   0  20
Omak           33  53  38  53  36  52 /   0   0  30  10   0  10

&&

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

&&

$$