Whitewater Ski Resort Snow Report

996 FXUS66 KOTX 250542 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1042 PM PDT Sat Oct 24 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Active weather pattern with chances for precipitation increasing on Monday and chances continuing throughout the work week. - Snow levels lowering to between 3,000 and 4,500 feet with snow in the mountains by Tuesday night and continuing through Thursday. Winter travel over mountain passes in the Cascades to Sherman Pass in north-central WA will be possible. && .SYNOPSIS... The weather pattern turns more active next week with a pair of low pressure systems impacting the region. The first weather system moves across Sunday night through Monday night and is expected to bring light precipitation, especially across southeast WA and into the ID Panhandle. A second, colder weather system for Tuesday night through Thursday night will drop snow levels to as low as 3000 feet. Rain in the valleys and light snow in the mountains is expected with the potential for travel impacts over mountain passes. && .DISCUSSION... Sunday through Tuesday: There is good model agreement that a vertically stacked low will move to just off the Washington coast on Sunday before weakening and moving inland along the WA/OR border on Monday. As it moves in increased mid level moisture and lift will result in a band of showers moving across the Inland NW with snow levels around 5000 to 6000 feet. With the weakening nature of the low and quick movement through the area precipitation amounts are expected to be light, mainly a tenth of an inch or less. Exception is around the Blue Mountains into the Central Panhandle Mountains where stronger lift as well as surface based instability with CAPE of 200-400 J/KG has the potential to produce locally heavier downpours with rain amounts of a quarter inch. A few thunderstorms can not be ruled out but confidence remains too low to include in the forecast. Wednesday through Saturday: An upper ridge amplifies along 150W in the Eastern Pacific forcing a trough to settle into the region, with a stronger closed low dropping south along the WA coast on Wednesday and remaining in place Thursday. There is good ensemble agreement leading to high confidence of a cooler and showery pattern as snow levels fall by Thursday to 3000-4500 feet. This will allow for snow in the mountains including the passes, especially in the Cascades and Okanogan Highlands given closer proximity to the low. By 5 PM Thursday, the NBM chances for 2 inches or more of snow is 90 percent for Sherman Pass, 80% chance Stevens Pass, 70% Washington Pass, and 35% Lookout Pass. The forecast gets more uncertainty after that with some models keeping the low over the region while others begins to show it moving out. Regardless temperatures will be trending cooler for this part of the forecast with high temperatures dropping into the 40s to low 50s, and lows dropping into the mid 20s to mid 30s. With overnight lows near freezing in the valleys some snow may mix in at times but accumulations are expected to remain in the mountains. JW && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: VFR conditions expected across the region into Sunday. Low pressure will approach the Washington coast tonight into Sunday resulting in primarily northeast and easterly winds over the region. Winds will increase to 10-15 kts at KPUW/KCOE between 08-10z and persist into Sunday. The weather system will also spread an abundance of mid and high level clouds across the region. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence for VFR conditions at all TAF sites. 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 34 59 37 52 38 51 / 0 0 0 60 50 40 Coeur d`Alene 33 59 36 53 38 48 / 0 0 0 50 70 70 Pullman 32 60 36 51 36 50 / 0 0 0 70 70 50 Lewiston 36 64 41 55 42 56 / 0 0 0 80 70 30 Colville 25 59 28 56 35 51 / 0 0 0 40 50 30 Sandpoint 31 54 32 52 36 44 / 0 0 0 30 70 90 Kellogg 33 57 35 53 36 43 / 0 0 0 40 90 90 Moses Lake 31 61 36 55 37 59 / 0 0 20 30 10 0 Wenatchee 37 55 40 55 40 57 / 0 10 30 60 10 0 Omak 32 59 36 56 39 56 / 0 10 10 60 50 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$