Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pendleton, OR
Issued by NWS Pendleton, OR
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905 FXUS66 KPDT 061123 AFDPDT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 423 AM PDT Sun Sep 6 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Increasing rain shower chances as an upper low swings across the area through Monday - Low chances (15-25%) of isolated thunderstorms mainly across mountainous terrain through Monday - Mostly dry conditions with light winds and seasonable temperatures the remainder of next week && .DISCUSSION...Satellite imagery tonight continues to show a well defined closed low over the PacNW, with a shortwave impulse pivoting around the low and into south central OR at this time. Ahead of the trough, regional radar shows light to moderate showers extending northward towards the OR/WA border, with light showers from the OR Cascade crest to the OR Columbia Basin and eastern mountains. Today, showers will continue to spread north and east as the shortwave impulse followed by the upper low push north and east across the PacNW. Both CAMs and deterministic models do show that shower activity will mostly be focused across northeast OR and far eastern WA, with any shower activity along the WA Cascades to end by the evening hours. As for thunderstorm activity, weak instability (150-350 J/kg) building along elevated terrain from the OR Cascade crest to far northeast OR will result in isolate thunderstorm development in these areas this afternoon. As for precipitation amounts, there is a 70-95% chance of 0.25 inches of precip across areas of central OR, The OR Cascade crest, and the Blue mountains today. In the WA Cascades, Wallowa County, and the Blue mountain foothills there is a 40-70% chance of 0.1 inches of precip with less than a 40% chance elsewhere. Late tonight through tomorrow, the upper low will swing northeast out of the forecast area. Shower activity tonight will remain focused along the Blues and spread across the elevated terrain in far northeast OR as the low continues northeast. There remains a 70-90% chance of 0.25 inches of precip across the Blues and Wallowa county through Monday`s shower activity, with a 30-50% chance of 0.1 inches across the remainder of the eastern mountains and the Blue mountain foothills. The upper level low passing over the Cascades will also result in a tightening of the cross-Cascade surface pressure gradient, resulting in breezy to locally gusty winds (15-30mph with gusts 30-45mph) through the Cascade gaps and portions of the Columbia Basin. By Monday evening, what is left of the upper level low will have pushed east of the region, with showers diminishing area wide. Tuesday through Wednesday, ensemble members are in good agreement of weak upper troughing developing from the PacNW into the eastern Pacific, placing the region under a split flow aloft. By Wednesday, flow becomes more zonal as the trough becomes a cut-off low well offshore CA. During this period, dry conditions and light winds will persist across the forecast area with near to a few degrees above normal temperatures. Thursday into early Friday, ensemble members start off in good agreement that an upper trough will swing south across BC into the PacNW, with light mountain showers returning Friday morning (confidence 55-60%). However the remainder of Friday into Saturday, ensemble members are split in the evolution of the synoptic pattern. Half the ensemble members from the ECMWF, Canadian, and GFS show the cut-off low offshore (now merged with remnants of TS Marie) merge into the upper trough dropping out of BC and stall offshore the PacNW, while the other half of the members have the upper trough swing through the PacNW sometime during this period without merging with the cutoff low (disagreement in timing and southward extent). The latter solution would result in light mountain showers and cooler temperatures across the area, while the former solutions would keep light to moderate showers with isolated thunderstorms across the Cascades and continued mild to warmer temperatures. Forecast confidence during this period is very low (15%) owing to continued disagreement amongst ensemble members in the evolution of the synoptic pattern and run to run variability. Lawhorn/82 && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z MONDAY/...Mostly VFR conditions to prevail through the period. Vsby/CIGs may become MVFR or lower under moderate to heavy precip this morning at sites RDM/BDN (confidence 30-40%). Otherwise, upper low impacting the region will bring shower impacts to most sites throughout today, with stratiform rain this morning becoming showery in the afternoon. Did include a prob30 group for thunder at site BDN for this afternoon, with chances being low (<15%) at all other sites. Winds will remain light, 12kts or less, through the period. Lawhorn/82 && .Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs... PDT 68 48 74 45 / 30 50 10 0 ALW 70 53 74 51 / 20 60 30 0 PSC 73 50 78 47 / 10 20 10 0 YKM 71 52 77 50 / 40 10 0 0 HRI 71 49 77 46 / 40 20 10 0 ELN 71 47 71 43 / 20 20 0 0 RDM 60 36 67 35 / 80 40 0 0 LGD 72 46 70 42 / 50 80 40 10 GCD 69 46 70 43 / 70 80 10 0 DLS 69 53 74 49 / 80 10 0 0 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. OR...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...82 AVIATION...82