Moscow, Idaho 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

266
FXUS66 KOTX 201203
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
403 AM PST Sat Dec 20 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Gusty winds Saturday with gusts 25-30 mph and isolated gusts
  up to 40 mph.

- Snow to impact the Cascades impacting travel over the passes

- Light to moderate snow possible in North Idaho and far
  northeastern Washington.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
The Inland Northwest will remain in an active pattern through
the end of this week and into next week with several
opportunities for impactful mountain snow, light lowland rain
and snow, and breezy winds.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Saturday-Sunday: Breezy southwest winds will be in place today
drawn toward an area of lower pressure tracking across central
BC- Alberta. Wind gusts of 20-35 mph will be common across much
of Eastern WA and North Idaho. This flow will result in
increasing upward motion into the rising terrain of NE WA and
North Idaho resulting in increasing clouds and periods of light
snow. With the polar jet still south of WA and 500mb temps near
-30C or colder in these areas, lapse rates are decent through
the lower atmosphere however, moisture will be the lacking
ingredient for appreciable snowfall with a bulk of the ice
growth focused in the lower atmosphere. Nonetheless, light snow
ranging from a few tenths to an inch is expected for North Idaho
with higher amounts in the higher terrain. HREF comes with a
40% chance for an inch of snow for sections of US95 between
Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry. The moisture is bit deeper over
Western WA where heavier snow showers are falling along the
Cascade Crest impacting the passes. Winter storm warnings are in
effect and look to be verifying well with evening cams showing
quite a bit of snow falling at Snoqualmie Pass. Holiday
travelers should be prepared for challenging winter travel
conditions.

Much of Central WA will be dry today with the Cascade rain shadow
in place. Showers that expand into the Palouse, Spokane Area,
and Okanogan Highlands will be very light with QPF amounts of a
trace to few hundredths at best. There are subtle changes
developing overnight as the westerly jet to our south begins to
buckle northward. This will result in a general warming aloft
allowing precipitation intensities over the Cascades to lessen
and precip to wane over North Idaho and NE WA. Low-level winds
will shift to the south/southeast. This will draw deeper
moisture through eastern Oregon and into southeastern WA and the
lower Idaho Panhandle. There are considerable differences how
far north the precipitation will expand through midday Sunday.
Hi-res ensemble forecast system (HREF) has a 40-60% chance for
rain/mountain snow to expand into the Blue Mountains, Camas
Prairie, Palouse, and southern Shoshone County by Sunday
afternoon. Per the latest deterministic models, the GFS is the
most aggressive with the northward extent of the moisture and
resultant QPF amounts while the European and NAM have very
little before sunset. Precipitation will increase across the
Inland NW Sunday night into Monday morning as a more organized
shortwave swings through the region providing a better source of
lift. Snow levels through Sunday and Sunday will be messy,
especially over the north which start near valley floors and
rise near 2000-2500 feet. Closer to the south of the deeper
moisture over SE WA and N ID, snow levels will rise closer to
4500-5000 feet. Little to no change is expected in the Cascades
which will feature snow levels near 2000 feet or lower. All
things considered, light snow accumulations are expected in the
mountains and over the northern mountain valleys, especially
closer to the international border impacting the Monday morning
commute.

Tuesday-Friday: There is good agreement amongst the ensemble
forecast packages for a deep trough to develop along and just
off the Western US coastline going into the middle to end of the
holiday week however there remains moderate spread regarding
the details. What we do know is bands of moisture will lift into
the Inland NW from the south/southeast. Periods of locally
breezy to windy conditions are possible. The forecast
precipitation type will be complex initially on the 24th and
early 25th then looks to transition colder with increasing
chances for all snow late 25th into the 26th. The screaming
message is that an unsettled weather pattern is on the menu,
this will likely come in different forms of precipitation types,
especially in E WA and N ID but a transition to snow is
expected with time. We will also need to monitor the exact
strength and track of smaller surface features and impacts that
has on localized strong winds. A lot of details to sort out
between now and then so stay tuned and prepare for some weather
impacts heading into this period. /sb

&&

.AVIATION...
12Z TAFs: The Northwest Region is under westerly flow with mid
level low to mid level cloud cover and light precipitation will
be in favored upslope areas including at the Cascade crest and
in the Idaho Panhandle. A subtle shortwave disturbance will
provide some additional forcing with the potential for light
showers expanding westward out of the Panhandle into extreme
eastern Washington for the late morning into afternoon hours.
Precipitation type is expected to be light snow or a mix of rain
and snow at airports generally along and east of a line from
K63S to KPUW. There is also an area of low stratus forming
within the area of KDEW to KSZT to KCOE and KGEG. Ceilings are
expected to remain above 1,000 feet agl. with this stratus
cover. Stratus along with the potential for light snow will
bring the MVFR conditions at times across this portion of the
forecast area. Southwest winds will be breezy across the
Columbia Basin today with gusts up to between 15-25 kts.

.FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Moderate
confidence for MVFR conditions with stratus and light snow today
at KGEG/KSFF/KCOE/KPUW. High confidence for VFR conditions to
persist at KLWS/KMWH/KEAT. /SVH

-----------------------

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        39  30  39  32  42  31 /  30  20  40  70  40  30
Coeur d`Alene  39  29  40  33  41  31 /  70  30  40  80  60  40
Pullman        39  30  38  31  41  30 /  40  10  60  70  50  20
Lewiston       46  32  41  36  46  33 /  20   0  50  60  30  10
Colville       38  26  38  28  39  28 /  40  50  50  80  60  60
Sandpoint      37  30  38  33  38  31 /  80  80  50  90  90  70
Kellogg        35  29  38  34  39  30 /  90  40  60  90  80  40
Moses Lake     44  30  40  28  43  28 /  10  10  20  30  10  10
Wenatchee      40  29  36  28  38  28 /  30  30  30  50  20  40
Omak           37  28  37  29  38  28 /  30  30  40  50  20  50

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST this afternoon for Western
     Chelan County.
ID...None.

&&

$$