Salmo Ski Area Snow Report

519 FXUS66 KOTX 200712 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1212 AM PDT Sun Sep 20 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Warm temperatures through Tuesday with afternoon highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s. - Temperatures begin cooling midweek, with an increasing risk for showers and high elevation snow Friday into Saturday. - Breezy Tuesday into Wednesday. Potential for stronger winds Friday. && .SYNOPSIS... Warm and dry weather is expected through the middle of next week, with high temperatures through Tuesday in the mid 70s to low 80s. Wednesday through the weekend, temperatures cool closer to normal with increasing winds. A stronger cold front arrives Friday with gusty winds and chances for showers and high elevation snow. && .DISCUSSION... Sunday-Tuesday: Mild and dry conditions start off the new week. A ridge will be over the region Sunday with mostly clear skies then begin to flatten Monday and Tuesday as a broad upper-level trough expands toward the WA Coast and sends impulses across southern British Columbia. Skies will largely remain mostly sunny but Monday and Tuesday will feature bands of high clouds associated with the decaying upper-level fronts. Temperatures will warm another 1-2 degrees Sunday and further Monday before a gently cooling trend on Tuesday. Despite the flattening ridge on Monday, the air mass actually warms in response to the upper- low that has been spinning south of Lewiston departing which has been blocking the warmth from the south from expanding northward. Overall, weather impacts will be low with minor heatrisk the main concern in the afternoon as temperatures climb into the 80s, roughly 10 degrees above normal. Nights will continue to offer relief with overnight lows dipping into the 40s to lower 50s. Winds will remain light Sunday with speeds generally under 10 mph. The exception will be localized southerly winds near 10 mph and gusts 15-20 mph in the upper Okanogan Valley. By Monday, the evening sun-downer winds will increase from the west and northwest through the Cascade river valleys as the pressure gradient begins to tighten. Winds for Tuesday will become a bit more breezy region-wide as cooler air begins to bleed into the region. West to southwest winds will increase closer to 10-15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph and locally 25 mph through the Cascade gaps. Definitely not anomalous by any means but noticeably more wind vs Sunday and Monday. Models are in good agreement through this period. Wednesday-weekend: The broad trough will have carved into the region by Wednesday with temperatures cooling further and residual breeziness. A reinforcing shot of cooler air and shortwave dropping into the offshore trough on Thursday will dig into the base of the trough allowing flow to buckle slightly over the Inland NW. 70% of the ensemble solutions indicate a slight warming trend Thursday before the cooler fall-like trough swings inland Friday into the weekend. Models look to be coming into good agreement for this pattern evolution with the main differences coming with the precise arrival of the main cold front (Friday morning or Friday evening) but generally on Friday. The main trough will pass through Saturday and leave a broad trough and cool air mass in place for Sunday. As for impacts: Winds on Friday, Cooler temperatures, particularly in the mountains with high elevations near freezing, and increased chances for precipitation Friday- Saturday with high elevation snow. Friday looks to be a windy day across the region with potential for sustained west to southwest winds around 15 mph and gusts 20-30 mph. There is a 50-70% chance for wind gusts greater than 20 mph and 20-40% for gusts to exceed 30 mph. This is to be expected with the air mass cooling as 850mb temperatures drop from near 14C Thursday to 6C Friday in the post frontal air mass. This will knock lowland high temperatures back into the 60s by the weekend. As for precipitation, ensembles are indicating a 50% chance for at least 0.10" along the Cascade Crest and mountains of NE WA and N ID. The potential outcomes for these areas is as high as 0.60 inches which could equate to several inches of snow for those venturing into the high country. Confidence is much lower for rainfall amounts outside of these areas and will depend how progressive the Friday- Saturday wave is. A slower solution could result in rainfall amounts in excess of 0.10" across much of Idaho and far eastern reaches of WA...a faster solution would deliver less than a tenth to most areas outside the Cascade Crest and Selkirks. Stay tuned. /sb && .AVIATION... 12Z TAFS: VFR conditions forecast with high pressure. Winds generally 10kts or less. Exception one near KPUW between 15-18Z with possible winds 10-15kts. Exception two near Omak and Oroville where southerly gusts of 15-20 mph 21-0Z. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in VFR conditions. /Solveig ----------------------- 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 81 50 83 52 78 51 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d`Alene 79 51 81 52 77 51 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pullman 80 49 82 50 76 47 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 84 54 86 57 82 54 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 81 45 82 46 79 44 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 76 48 78 49 76 48 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 77 50 80 52 76 48 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 83 50 84 51 79 48 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 81 58 82 58 78 51 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 82 53 82 53 79 50 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$