Area Forecast Discussion Issued by NWS Spokane, WA
000
FXUS66 KOTX 191002
AFDOTX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
302 AM PDT Tue Mar 19 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
Warm and dry weather under High pressure will slowly transition to
cooler and wetter by late week. Temperatures will trend closer to
seasonal normal. Chances of lowland rain and mountain snow will
return by the weekend with snow accumulations especially at
mountain passes.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today and Wednesday: The satellite imagery early this morning has
quite a stark contrast of where the ridge of high pressure is and
where the approaching trough is located in the Pacific. The
entire Western US is nearly cloud free, save for eastern Arizona
early this AM. Today will feature nearly a repeat of the last few
days with dry, warm, and quiet weather for the Inland Northwest.
The airmass has changed very little over the last 24-48 hours
(850mb temperature +11C, PWAT 0.42 inches), so there is another
opportunity to see near record high temperatures for many
locations across the Inland Northwest Today. Winds will remain
light under a dry environment with increasing high clouds moving
into the northern WA/north ID areas. Wednesday, additional
increasing clouds will spread through the region as we see a
shortwave feature work to flatten out the ridge and effectively
transition us back to a more Northwest Spring weather pattern. Bid
a farewell (at least for now) to our warm and dry weather as we
begin to see a shift back to cooler and wetter. West- southwest
winds will become breezy Wednesday across the eastern Cascade
slopes, the Columbia Basin, into the Palouse and north Idaho. The
cooling trend will begin to alter the airmass with cooling
settling in and increasing moisture as we move into later in the
week. /Dewey
Thursday through Monday: Unsettled and cooler conditions return
during the extended portion of the forecast. Though cooler, daytime
temps will still remain above normal for Thursday and Friday, and
snow levels will generally remain above 3500 feet. Any snow-related
impacts are anticipated to be minimal. Temps and snow levels drop
farther for the weekend into early next week. The passes will see
greater chances for accumulating snow for this period, with snow
potential dropping into the northern ID panhandle lowlands as well.
Those that have quickly gotten used to the warm and dry conditions
of late will need to reacclimate to more seasonal weather as daily
chances for rain and snow persist into the beginning of next week.
/KD
&&
.AVIATION...
06Z TAFS: High pressure will result in VFR conditions regionwide
for the next 24 hours.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in
VFR conditions. Low confidence in patchy ground fog in sheltered
valleys and near bodies of water tonight. 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 68 42 63 41 57 40 / 0 0 0 10 30 30
Coeur d`Alene 65 41 61 39 54 39 / 0 0 0 10 60 50
Pullman 68 44 63 42 54 41 / 0 0 0 30 50 40
Lewiston 74 47 71 46 62 45 / 0 0 0 40 30 20
Colville 67 38 64 38 58 37 / 0 0 10 20 40 30
Sandpoint 61 41 57 39 50 37 / 0 10 10 30 80 70
Kellogg 65 44 60 42 49 42 / 0 0 10 30 80 70
Moses Lake 72 39 69 42 64 41 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 73 44 68 43 61 44 / 0 0 0 0 10 10
Omak 73 43 69 42 63 42 / 0 0 0 0 10 10
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...None.
&&
$$