FXUS66 KOTX 110958
AFDOTX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
258 AM PDT Sat Oct 11 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Early winter storm for the northern mountains from the
northern Washington Cascades to North Idaho Sunday into
Monday morning.
- Gusty north to northeast winds on Monday.
- Below normal temperatures Sunday into early next week with
highs in the 50s. Low temperatures dropping into the 20s and
30s by Tuesday.
&&
.SYNOPSIS...
The weekend will bring breezy conditions and much cooler
temperatures. Saturday will bring showers across North Idaho and
Eastern Washington, with more widespread rain and mountain snow
developing on Sunday. Heavy snow with winter conditions is
expected in the northern mountains above 3000 feet late in the
weekend. Dry weather with fall like temperatures are expected
Tuesday through Thursday.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
...EARLY SEASON WINTER STORM TO BRING HEAVY SNOW TO THE
MOUNTAINS OF THE NORTHERN WASHINGTON CASCADES TO NORTH IDAHO...
Today and Tonight: A closed low over northwest Oregon this morning
will track east today, getting picked up by an upper trough
passing through southern British Columbia. Increased mid level
moisture, and weak lift with these passing features will result in
an increasing coverage of showers, with the highest focus over the
Idaho Panhandle due to added upslope westerly flow. Snow levels
will be around 6000 feet limiting snow to the higher peaks.
Sunday through Monday: The forecast gets more interesting during
this period as an upper trough drops south out of Canada and
intensifies over the region as a surface low spins up along the
WA/OR coast in the left exit region of an upper level jet.
Increasing precipitation with the low, will combine with north to
northeast winds bringing cooler air into the region. Snow levels
drop to around 3000-4000 feet over northern Washington, and 5000
feet over SE Washington. For the North ID Panhandle, models drop
the snow level as low as 2000 feet which may result in wet snow
for areas such as Priest Lake, Bonners Ferry, and Sandpoint.
Several inches of snow is expected in the mountains of northern
Washington and the north ID Panhandle, as well as the Central
Panhandle Mountains which may impact travel over Washington,
Sherman, Stevens, and Lookout Passes. The heaviest precipitation
is expected Sunday afternoon into Sunday Night. Below are the
are the probabilities for snowfall thresholds of at least 2",
4", and 8" at our mountain passes
Mountain Pass Chance of 2+" Chance of 4+" Chance of 8+"
Washington 90% 85% 80%
Sherman 95% 85% 25%
Lookout 65% 35% 5%
Stevens 75% 55% 20%
Blewett 60% 35% 5%
Loup Loup 80% 55% 15%
Circling back to the winds, the pressure gradient over the
region on Monday strengthens between a 1030mb surface high over
southern Alberta, and a 1002mb surface low along the Oregon
coast. This will bring gusty northeast winds especially in the
open areas of the Columbia Basin, and channeled north-south
drainages such as the Purcell Trench in North Idaho (Sandpoint
and Coeur d'Alene areas), and the Okanogan Valley. The NBM is
advertising gusts of 30-40 MPH in these areas. Early fall
outdoor enthusiasts should be prepared for snow and wind chills
dropping into the teens with this storm!
Monday Night through Thursday: A quieter pattern returns as the
low drops south over California and an upper ridge builds off
the coast providing a dry north to northwest flow over the
Inland NW. It will feel like fall as low temperatures drop into
the 20s and 30s for most of the region, and daytime highs in the
mid 50s to low 60s.
Friday: 85% of the ensembles shows another system dropping in
from the northwest but differ with the strength. 40% show a
windy and wet scenario while 45% show a weaker trough. Forecast
currently leans towards the weaker scenario but this will
continue to be monitored in the coming days. JW
&&
.AVIATION...
12Z TAFS: Low pressure will move across the area today into
this evening, with increasing showers over especially the
east third of WA and ID. Conditions are forecast to be VFR,
decreasing to MVFR/local IFR over GEG/SFF/COE/PUW through the
early to mid-morning, followed by some improvement in the
evening except near COE and PUW where any improvement may be
limited or not occur at all. Boundary layer winds into Central
Washington will lead to less coverage of showers, with HREF
favoring a 90% chance or higher of conditions remaining VFR at
EAT/MWH/LWS.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Areas of
VFR/MVFR conditions at GEG/SFF/COE/PUW. Low to moderate
confidence at GEG/SFF and moderate to high confidence at
COE/PUW toward 12-15Z with some improvement toward 19-03z.
A return to or persistence of MVFR/local IFR conditions at COE
and PUW.
-----------------------
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:/weather.gov/otx/avndashboard
&&
.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
Spokane 56 40 47 36 50 32 / 50 80 90 90 20 0
Coeur d'Alene 55 40 47 36 50 32 / 70 90 90 90 20 0
Pullman 54 38 46 39 54 30 / 60 90 90 80 20 0
Lewiston 62 47 53 43 59 39 / 60 90 80 70 20 10
Colville 56 29 48 36 51 20 / 80 90 90 90 20 0
Sandpoint 53 35 45 33 47 26 / 90 100 100 100 30 0
Kellogg 51 41 44 32 47 32 / 80 90 100 100 30 10
Moses Lake 62 41 54 40 53 35 / 30 20 60 80 50 0
Wenatchee 61 44 52 40 50 37 / 30 30 70 90 50 0
Omak 61 40 52 41 55 34 / 40 50 70 90 30 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Winter Storm Watch from Sunday morning through Monday morning
for Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Western
Okanogan County.
Air Quality Alert until further notice for Central Chelan
County- Okanogan Valley-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area-
Western Chelan County.
ID...Winter Storm Watch from Sunday morning through Monday morning
for Northern Panhandle.
&&
$$