Salmo Ski Area Snow Report

787 FXUS66 KOTX 010827 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 127 AM PDT Sat Aug 1 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Widespread critical to extreme fire weather conditions on Saturday. - Elevated fire weather conditions on Sunday. - Breezy northerly winds down the Okanogan Valley Sunday night into Monday morning. - Cooler temperatures for Sunday into Monday then warming back to slightly above normal by the middle of next week. && .SYNOPSIS... A robust cold front on Saturday will drive strong surface winds and bring low humidity across the region, creating widespread critical to extreme fire weather conditions. Temperatures cool by 8-12 degrees on Sunday, though lingering breezy winds will keep fire weather conditions elevated. Warm, dry conditions return for start of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Strong winds and dry conditions will bring widespread critical to extreme fire weather conditions on Saturday... Today: Ensembles continue to indicate potential for a high impact fire weather event with strong winds and dry conditions. A strong +120kt upper level jet will move across WA as a Low swings into the Lower BC. Any chance of precip across the region will limited to the Cascade Crest. The Low will push a strong dry cold front through the Inland Northwest with 850mb-500mb winds ranging from 30-60kts. The winds will mix down to the surface as the front passes. Westerly winds will begin to increase in the late morning and continue into the evening. Timing for the strongest winds will be around 2 to 8 PDT. Ensembles have been very consistent with speeds and timing. For speeds, sustained winds will be in the 20 to low 30 mph range. Weaker winds in the teens will be over the Idaho Panhandle. For gusts, a range of 30 to low 40s for most. The Idaho Panhandle will have gusts into the 20s. Outside of the Idaho Panhandle, probability of wind gusts greater than 35 mph is at least 60 percent. Southeast Washington, Lewiston, and Western Columbia Basin including Waterville Plateau down to Wenatchee has 20-40 percent probability for greater than 50 mph gusts. Impacts include blowing dust and minor tree and property damage. Highs for the day will be in the slightly cooler with a range of upper 70s to low 90s. Overnight lows will be in the 40s to 50s. Sunday: While temperatures will be a lot cooler, winds will continue to be breezy. The region will see winds sustained in the teens with gusts into the 20s continuing to impact ongoing and new fires in the area. Winds will shift to out of the north and funnel down the Okanogan across the Waterville Plateau. Highs will be in the 70s to mid 80s. Overnight lows will be in the 40s to mid 50s. Monday through Friday: A flat ridge will fill in behinds the exiting Low. It will be in place for most of the upcoming. Temperatures will rebound back into the 80s to low 90s. Winds will continue the diurnal trend of breezy afternoons and calm overnights. The warm, dry pattern will continue with no chances of beneficial precip for the start of August. Overnight lows will be in the 50s. /JDC && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: Mainly VFR through the 06z TAF cycle. Smoke and haze will bring brief impacts to visibilities around the region but not bring MVFR conditions. A dry cold front will move through the region on Saturday. Winds will begin to increase from the Southwest around 1600-1800Z and continue through the 0600Z. Winds will be sustained in the teens to 20s with gusts around 35-40 kts. Winds will begin to weaken around 05Z but still remain breezy. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in light wind speeds and diurnally driven wind shifts. Moderate to high confidence in VFR visibilities prevailing at the TAF sites except KEAT. /JDC ----------------------- 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 51 77 50 82 52 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d`Alene 87 52 76 50 81 53 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pullman 83 45 72 43 78 45 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 93 57 79 54 84 56 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 89 45 79 44 83 45 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 86 49 75 46 79 48 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 84 49 70 48 76 50 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 88 52 81 52 85 54 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 84 57 79 57 85 61 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 91 51 81 53 86 56 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening for Colville Reservation (Zone 702)-Eastern Columbia Basin -Palouse -Spokane Area (Zone 708)- Foothills of Central Washington Cascades (Zone 705)- Foothills of Northeast Washington (Zone 701)-Lower Palouse -Snake River (Zone 709)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)- Okanogan Highlands and Kettle Mountains (Zone 699)- Okanogan Valley (Zone 703)-Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington (Zone 700)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)- Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707). Air Quality Alert until 5 PM PDT Thursday for Central Chelan County-Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Moses Lake Area- Northeast Blue Mountains-Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Okanogan Valley-Spokane Area-Upper Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area-Western Chelan County-Western Okanogan County. Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT this evening for East Portion of North Cascades National Park/Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East Washington Central Cascades (Zone 696)-East Washington North Cascades (Zone 698). ID...Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening for Northern and Central Idaho Panhandle (Zone 101). Air Quality Alert until noon PDT Monday for Central Panhandle Mountains-Idaho Palouse-Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties-Lewiston Area. && $$