Red Mountain Resort Snow Report

126 FXUS66 KOTX 040711 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1211 AM PDT Fri Sep 4 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Cool and showery weather expected through Labor Day Weekend with isolated thunderstorms. - A warming and drying trend returns around the middle of next week. && .SYNOPSIS... Active weather sticks around through Labor Day Weekend with scattered showers, isolated thunderstorms, and cooler than normal temperatures. A warming and drying trend commences around the middle of next week as higher pressure returns to the region. && .DISCUSSION... Friday through Monday: An upper level low pressure system will spin over the Inland Northwest keeping temperatures seasonably cool and the weather active. The center of the low is situated over northwest Oregon. A deformation band forming on the eastern flank will swing across the Idaho Panhandle through early Friday morning. Periods of light to moderate rain will soak the ground from the Lewiston- Clarkston Valley up across the Palouse region, and across the southern to central Idaho Panhandle. Total precipitation under this band will be up to between 0.50-1.0 inches across much of this area. Much needed rainfall after a warmer and drier than average June- August. Steady rain will transition to showers for Friday afternoon. Showers will favor the higher terrain, but even the Columbia Basin will see at least isolated showers. Weak surface based instability over the Cascades and the mountains of north-central Washington will bring an isolated threat for thunderstorms. Any storms that develop this afternoon will be capable of brief heavy rain, and infrequent lightning strikes. The center of the upper level low wobbles around over the Northwest Region through at least Sunday. This will keep the region conditionally unstable. Best chances for showers will come in the afternoon with diurnally forced showers. Perturbations that spin around the upper low will also help to force precipitation. The next one looks to be around Saturday afternoon with more organized development of showers across extreme eastern Washington into the Idaho Panhandle. Then another round with another shortwave spinning in across these same areas for Sunday night into Monday. It`s really tough to pin point how much precipitation will fall as there will be some convective elements in place with modestly steep lapse rates at mid levels of the atmosphere. There will be the potential for heavier showers that brings wetting rains (greater than a tenth of an inch), and this will all largely be beneficial for the ongoing drought across the region. Where rain may be of a nuisance is if it gets heavy over a recent burn scar, and that would bring a small chance for minor flooding impacts. The upper level low gets picked up by the Polar Jet stream around late Sunday into Monday. A 30-60% chance of precipitation will continue across the eastern half of the region while the Cascades begins to dry out. Temperatures will be below normal with highs generally in the upper 60s to mid 70s through Labor Day Weekend. Breaks in the cloud cover overnight may yield patchy fog as rain will moisten up the boundary layer. The next few days is a reminder that the fall season is right around the corner. Monday night through Friday: The Inland Northwest remains under a baggy longwave trough of low pressure into next week. A longwave high pressure area will be situated over the central portion of the U.S. The trough axis will be situated more offshore and it looks to dig around the Tuesday into Wednesday timeframe. The equatorial Pacific is also quite active with tropical systems, and there`s some indication that one of these systems could get entrained into the mid latitudes off of the coast of Baja California by Wednesday. This tends to muck up the models with reduced confidence in the extended forecast. The general consensus, however, is that the ridging in the central U.S. will build in toward the Inland Northwest with a warming and drying trend around mid week. We will need to keep an eye on that tropical moisture for later in the week though as there is a possibility for some of that to get entrained and advect northward into the region. Early indications is that if this happens, it will be a small fraction and won`t be more than a minor impact. /SVH && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: Light to moderate rain will fall across extreme eastern Washington into the Idaho Panhandle tonight under a deformation band. KLWS and KPUW will see the heaviest rain with visibility down to between 3-5SM and ceilings down to between 2-4 kft AGL with MVFR conditions expected. Rain will be lighter across northeast Washington into the northern Idaho Panhandle where ceilings are more likely to remain above 3 kft AGL. Rain will taper off early in the morning and transition to showers. Isolated afternoon thunderstorms expected over the Cascades and mountains of north-central Washington on Friday. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Moderate confidence for MVFR conditions at KPUW through Friday morning. MVFR conditions with rain at KLWS will be brief overnight with moderate confidence for VFR conditions after 11Z. Moderate confidence for VFR conditions at KGEG/KSFF/KCOE as increasing moisture overnight into Friday morning may result in ceilings lowering below 3 kft AGL. ----------------------- 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 67 44 70 46 72 48 / 40 10 20 20 10 40 Coeur d`Alene 67 44 71 46 73 48 / 50 0 30 20 30 50 Pullman 65 41 68 41 70 42 / 50 0 20 10 20 50 Lewiston 70 51 73 52 74 54 / 30 10 30 10 20 60 Colville 67 39 71 39 74 42 / 30 0 30 30 10 30 Sandpoint 65 42 68 43 71 45 / 40 0 30 20 30 40 Kellogg 63 42 68 45 70 47 / 50 10 40 20 40 60 Moses Lake 71 45 72 46 76 48 / 10 0 20 20 10 30 Wenatchee 70 52 71 54 76 58 / 20 10 40 20 10 30 Omak 70 46 72 47 74 49 / 10 10 30 40 10 20 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$