Red Mountain Resort Snow Report

078 FXUS66 KOTX 150710 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1210 AM PDT Sat Aug 15 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Continued thunderstorm chances focused over mountain areas through the weekend. - Temperatures warm back into the mid 80s to mid 90s by Sunday. - Drier air returns early to mid next week. && .SYNOPSIS... A somewhat active pattern persists across the Inland Northwest through the weekend and into early next week with continued mountain thunderstorm chances each afternoon and evening. Temperatures trend warmer through the weekend. A drier airmass moves in by the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Sunday: The Inland NW will remain in a somewhat active pattern, with periodic shower and thunderstorm chances and temperatures a bit closer to seasonal norms. Highs will be in mid-80s through mid-90s this weekend. A baggy upper trough retrogrades west, but impulses and lingering moisture (with PWATs around 120-160% of normal) will work with daily daytime instability to bring these precipitation chances. Today a shortwave swinging in will spread a threat of showers and thunderstorms across the region. The best chances will be around the Cascades and mountains, but other chances will also expand across the Columbia Basin in more isolated to scattered fashion. Some of these could contain brief heavy rain and gusty winds, with the best risk around the mountain zones and southeast CWA again. Smaller chances will be found Sunday, found in spotty fashion around the Cascades and northern mountains and potentially a bit more coverage near the far southeast CWA, especially later in the day as a wave surges along the boundary stalled in that region. As for fire weather and lightning and wind threat, a modest chance for thunderstorms will be found near the Cascades again this afternoon and evening; elevated fire weather conditions are forecast but there is a better chance for wet thunderstorms and limit the fire threat. A Red Flag Warning was issued for FWZ709, near the Blue Mountains from noon to 9 pm Saturday, where there is higher confidence of abundant lightning and it is an area that has not see much rain. Gusty outflow winds from any t-storms could post a risk for spread on any new or ongoing wildfires. Monday to Friday: The offshore trough pushes back into the Monday into Tuesday, but it looks weak, while additional weak waves into the end of the week. Models have backed of on the coverage of potential Monday to Thursday the main shower chances retreat to the mountains and look more isolated in coverage. Some better chances arrive toward the end of the week. Temperature will be a more seasonal 80s to low 90s. Winds do not look to impactful at this time, but we will have to watch for some gaps winds near the Cascades and down the Okanogan Valley at times. /Solveig && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFs: VFR conditions will prevail through the 24 hour TAF period with isolated MVFR visibilities possible due to smoke. The greatest potential for visibility reductions due to smoke will be near the Cascades and in the western Columbia Basin including KEAT and KMWH, though confidence in visibility impacts is too low at this time to bring TAF visibilities lower than 6SM. The threat of showers will be present Saturday afternoon across much of the region with PROB30 groups reflecting this threat for KGEG, KSFF, KCOE, KPUW, and KLWS. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in smoke and haze continuing to impact local terminals, but low confidence in extent of reduced vis/cigs. High confidence on showers and thunderstorms being present in parts of the region Saturday afternoon but low confidence on storms impacting specific TAF sites. ----------------------- 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 87 55 88 57 89 58 / 20 20 0 0 0 0 Coeur d`Alene 86 55 87 57 88 57 / 20 30 0 0 0 10 Pullman 86 48 86 51 87 50 / 40 30 0 0 0 10 Lewiston 90 60 91 63 92 63 / 40 30 10 20 0 10 Colville 86 45 86 46 87 47 / 20 20 20 0 0 10 Sandpoint 83 49 84 50 84 50 / 10 20 0 0 0 10 Kellogg 83 53 83 55 84 55 / 10 30 10 0 0 10 Moses Lake 89 57 90 58 91 57 / 20 10 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 87 65 89 66 91 65 / 20 20 0 0 0 0 Omak 88 60 89 61 91 62 / 30 40 10 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...Air Quality Alert until noon PDT Tuesday for Okanogan County, Chelan County, and Douglas County. Red Flag Warning from noon today to 9 PM PDT this evening for Lower Palouse-Snake River (Zone 709). ID...Air Quality Alert until noon PDT Tuesday for Lewis County and Nez Perce County. && $$