014
FXUS66 KOTX 212239
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
339 PM PDT Fri Mar 21 2025

.SYNOPSIS...

Winter driving conditions are expected over the Cascades and
Lookout Pass into early Saturday. Gusty winds will continue across
the region as well, along with a slight chance of thunderstorms
over portions of Northeast Washington Friday evening. Conditions
trend warmer and drier over the first half of next week, with some
areas pushing toward 70 degrees.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Tonight through Sunday:
A cold front will be moving through the Inland Northwest for the
evening through the early morning. Guidance has been consistent
with decent plume of moisture associated with the front. 850MB
temperatures are still in the range of -1C to -4C. These temps
promote mountain snow and valley rain to rain/snow mix. An east to
west trajectory of the moisture will lean to rain shadow effect
keeping the western Basin precip free. The heaviest precip is
expected over the Cascades with snow amounts ranging from 10 to 17
inches. Lookout Pass should get 8 to 14 inches. The rest of the
region will have light rain showers with amounts up to 0.3" of
rain possible. A few isolated thunderstorms embedded within these
showers are expected. It will lead to possible higher rainfall
amounts. By the middle of Saturday morning, the front has exited
the East and a ridge will start to push into the region from the
South. It will lead to diminishing precip activity through the
day. A weak shortwave is expected to overtop the ridge and bring
another round of mountain snow and valley rain to the region. It
is not as robust as Friday nights system and is only expected to
generate 3 to 6 inches for the passes. Precip amounts across the
Basin are expected to in the 0.2-0.4". Highs will be in the 40s
and low 50s. Lows will be in the upper 20s and 30s. /JDC

Monday through Friday:
A strong ridge will work across the Inland Northwest early next
week, with much above normal temperatures forecast for Monday
through Wednesday. Only Tuesday (during the peak of the ridge) is
looking completely dry at this time. For Monday, chances for showers
will persist as the previous disturbance still lingers across the
region, predominantly for northern ID and extreme eastern WA.

By late Wednesday through the end of the week, a transition back to
cooler and stormy weather returns. Precipitation chances initially
increase Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. Enough instability in
place may also lead to embedded thunderstorms within the greater
region of light-to-moderate precip...something to monitor in the
coming days. Snow generally confined to the passes and mountains. In
addition, locally gusty winds are anticipated, likely to peak
Wednesday night into Thursday. Daytime temps Thursday and Friday
will be about 10-15 degrees below those expected on Tuesday and
Wednesday. /KD

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS: A passing cold front is bringing more significant bands
of rain through the overnight. Snow levels quickly plummet but
precipitation will become more confined to the ID Panhandle
overnight as strong westerly flow develops. But a change to -SN is
possible at KGEG/KSFF/KPUW for the tail end of the precipitation,
with a better chance at KCOE. Front exits the region around 14Z
ending precip potential. HREF is currently showing VFR conditions
expected behind the cold front except for COE which will have MVFR
ceilings.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS:
Ceilings for Coeur d`Alene decrease to 1500 feet. Guidance is
showing VFR conditions for TAF sites. Probability of MVFR ceilings
is around 50% for the end of the TAF period. /JDC

-----------------------
Confidence descriptors:
Low - Less than a 30 percent chance
Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance
High - Greater than a 70 percent chance

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane        32  47  35  46  44  59 / 100  10  20  90  50  30
Coeur d`Alene  32  45  32  42  39  56 / 100  40  20  90  80  50
Pullman        33  44  34  46  42  58 / 100  20  20  80  70  50
Lewiston       37  52  39  51  46  65 / 100  10  20  70  60  40
Colville       30  48  32  41  38  55 /  80  10  20  90  60  30
Sandpoint      32  44  31  40  37  52 / 100  60  20  90  90  70
Kellogg        31  39  29  40  38  50 / 100  70  20  90  90  80
Moses Lake     33  53  38  55  47  67 /  60   0  10  30  10  10
Wenatchee      34  50  35  52  44  61 /  60   0  10  50  40  20
Omak           31  51  34  48  41  60 /  50   0  10  60  40  20

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Storm Warning until 11 AM PDT Saturday for Central
     Panhandle Mountains.

WA...Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM PDT Saturday for Western Chelan
     County.

&&

$$