062 FXUS66 KOTX 102254 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 354 PM PDT Thu Apr 10 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Showers are forecast for the Cascades, Idaho Panhandle, and for portions of Eastern Washington overnight along with gusty winds across the Columbia Basin. Friday looks to be a dry day across the region, followed by cool and showery weather on Saturday. This weekend will also bring colder overnight low temperatures. Temperatures will then trend back upward heading into the early to middle part of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight through Friday Night: A well defined cold front over western Washington as of 2 PM will quickly move east this evening. Timing of front reaches the Cascades between 3-6 PM, Central WA 6-8 PM, and then Eastern WA/N Idaho 8-11 PM. A dry air mass as the front tracks through will limit precipitation chances and amounts, with rain limited to mainly the Cascades, ID Panhandle, and potentially extreme eastern Washington. Mid level instability over SE Washington into the ID Panhandle with 850-500 mb most unstable CAPE of 50-100 J/KG may lead to some embedded heavier showers, with less than a 10% chance of a thunderstorm. The other story with the front will be gusty winds. 850mb temps of 8-12C this afternoon drop to 0-3C Friday morning with the cold advection bringing gusty winds. Yet the winds look typical of spring, with gusts for most areas in the 15-25 MPH range, with 30-40 MPH on exposed mountain ridges, and in the typical windy spots like Alpowa Summit. With the cold advection snow levels will fall behind the front, as low as 2500-3000 feet along the Cascade crest Friday morning. Yet moisture will also being to lack as precipitable water values drop to 50-70% of normal. This little to no snow accumulation is forecast in the mountains, even over Stevens Pass. The dry air will remain over the area Friday and Friday Night, allowing for colder overnight lows this weekend. If you are planting early, be aware of frost impacting many areas starting Friday Night. JW Saturday through Sunday: An upper level trough remains over the Inland NW through Saturday, giving a reinforcing shot of cooler air. Breezy westerly winds increase by midday Saturday with gusts of 25 to 30 mph across the Waterville Plateau, Columbia Basin, and Palouse. Showers bubble up by mid Saturday morning and increase in coverage across the mountains and even the lowlands east of Pomeroy to Davenport. Snow levels drip to near 3K ft leading to light mountain snow and a cold rain or a sloppy rain/snow/graupel mix for the lower elevations. Winds and showers subside Saturday evening. As the upper trough exits, expect clearing skies, drier air, and strong radiation cooling takes place leading to overnight lows falling below freezing in many locations. Drier northerly flow persists into Sunday with mostly clear skies, lighter winds, and seasonal daytime highs in the 50s. Dry and cool conditions continue Sunday night as overnight lows moderate slightly as an upper level ridge builds into the region. Monday through Thursday: A flat upper ridge remains in place for the start of the workweek with a dry westerly flow. Temperatures are expected to gradually warm each day, peaking by mid week with to above seasonal normals. Minor ripples in the flow aloft may give way to an increase in cloud cover and light mountain showers, yet rain chances remain low for much of the work week. /rfox. && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS: VFR conditions will prevail. A cold front will bring shifting winds to southwest through the evening and then west- southwest tonight into Friday. This front will bring a chance for rain for the eastern TAF sites (KGEG, KSFF, KCOE, KPUW, KLWS) between 04z-10z tonight. Drier air moving in behind the front is expected to bring clearing skies to Central and Eastern WA by Saturday morning, starting around 06z for Central WA, and 10z-12z for Eastern WA. Some shallow boundary layer moisture Friday afternoon combined with afternoon heating will lead to flat cumulus over the region. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Wind gusts could briefly (1-2 hours) reach 23-30 kts with the front passage this evening. JW ----------------------- Confidence descriptors: Low - Less than a 30 percent chance Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance High - Greater than a 70 percent chance && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 41 59 35 53 31 57 / 20 0 0 30 0 0 Coeur d`Alene 42 58 35 51 31 56 / 40 0 0 50 10 0 Pullman 44 56 33 48 30 53 / 40 10 10 30 10 0 Lewiston 51 64 40 57 36 60 / 40 10 10 20 0 0 Colville 36 61 30 53 28 59 / 20 0 0 30 0 0 Sandpoint 41 57 35 49 30 55 / 50 0 0 70 20 0 Kellogg 45 55 38 44 31 52 / 70 10 0 70 20 10 Moses Lake 39 63 37 59 31 62 / 10 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 40 61 39 55 34 60 / 20 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 37 63 36 59 31 62 / 30 0 0 20 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. && $$