273
FXUS66 KOTX 250012
AFDOTX
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
512 PM PDT MON AUG 24 2026
KEY MESSAGES
- WARMING AND DRYING TREND MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
- MINOR TO MODERATE HEATRISK TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH HIGHS
IN THE 90S.
- BREEZY WINDS WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY WITH ELEVATED FIRE
WEATHER CONDITIONS.
UPDATE
A HEAT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE LEWISTON-CLARKSTON
VALLEY THAT WILL BE IN EFFECT STARTING NOON ON TUESDAY AND WILL
EXTEND THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMEST ON
TUESDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS AS HOT AS 104 DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF
THE VALLEY. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ONLY SLIGHT RELIEF AT NIGHT
WITH LOWS DOWN INTO THE MID TO UPPER 60S. WEDNESDAY WILL BE
ANOTHER HOT DAY BUT SLIGHTLY COOLER WITH A SLIGHT DIP IN
TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES. THESE TEMPERATURES WILL HAVE
IMPACTS ON ANYONE THAT IS OUTDOORS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS
AND WON'T HAVE ACCESS TO ADEQUATE COOLING OR HYDRATION. THOSE
WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING MAY ALSO FEEL IMPACTS FROM THE HEAT
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAY RELIEF FROM THE HEAT WILL COME ON
THURSDAY WITH A COLD FRONT PASSAGE. /SVH
SYNOPSIS
TEMPERATURES WARM MONDAY INTO TUESDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS IN
THE 90S BY TUESDAY. THE HEAT BEGINS TO BREAK DOWN WEDNESDAY INTO
THURSDAY WITH AN INCREASING RISK FOR BREEZY WINDS AND MOUNTAIN
THUNDERSTORMS.
DISCUSSION
MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: THIS WEEK WILL BE OFF TO A WARM START AS
RIDGING OVER THE REGION PROMOTES AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES. TODAY,
HIGHS ARE IN THE MID 80S TO LOW 90S, JUST A FEW DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. THE RIDGE WILL CONTINUE STRENGTHENING, BRINGING A NEARLY 10
DEGREE INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES BETWEEN TODAY AND TOMORROW, BRINGING
HIGHS INTO THE MID 90S TO LOW TRIPLE DIGITS. THIS WILL LEAD TO A
RETURN OF WIDESPREAD MODERATE HEATRISK WITH VERY ISOLATED VALUES OF
MAJOR HEATRISK. PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE SENSITIVE TO HEAT RELATED
ILLNESSES, SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO STAY ADEQUATELY COOL AND
HYDRATED. PRECIPITATION CHANCES THROUGH TUESDAY ARE NEAR ZERO.
WEDNESDAY: A LOW PRESSURE OFF THE PNW COAST WILL BEGIN NUDGING INTO
THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, DECREASING TEMPERATURES AND BRINGING SLIGHT
CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION TO THE MOUNTAINS. HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY WILL
BE IN THE LOW TO MID 90S, WITH WIDESPREAD MODERATE HEATRISK STILL
EXPECTED. AN INCREASE IN PWATS FROM MOISTURE BEING ADVECTED INTO THE
AREA COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL RESULT IN A 10 PERCENT
CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN MOUNTAIN AREAS, SPECIFICALLY IN
THE IDAHO PANHANDLE AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. CURRENT SOUNDINGS SHOW
PWATS IN THE 0.8-0.9 RANGE AND DCAPE VALUES OF 1000+ J/KG,
INDICATING THAT BIGGEST THREATS WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS NEAR 40 MPH. WINDS WILL INCREASE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH THE APPROACHING LOW, WHICH
WHEN COMBINED WITH WARM TEMPERATURES AND LOW RHS ACROSS THE AREA
COULD RESULT IN FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS.
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: THE LOW WILL THEN MOVE THROUGH THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON AND IDAHO THURSDAY, THEN 100 PERCENT OF CLUSTERS HAVE THE
LOW REMAINING OVER THE PNW THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A BROAD UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL US KEEPS IT IN PLACE. THIS WILL
RESULT IN CHANCES FOR MOUNTAIN PRECIPITATION AND BREEZY TO
GUSTY WINDS THROUGH MUCH OF THE AREA ON THURSDAY. ADDITIONALLY,
TEMPERATURES WILL DROP FROM THE MID 90S TO THE MID 80S AS THE
LOW ADVECTS IN COOLER AIR, CONTINUING TO COOL OVER THE WEEKEND.
CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION ARE LESS CERTAIN DUE TO THE STRENGTH
AND PLACEMENT OF THE LOW, AND CONTINUE TO BE LOW AND CONFINED TO
THE MOUNTAINS. /AS
AVIATION
00Z TAFS: VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR MUCH OF THE REGION. THE
CAVEAT WILL BE SMOKE IMPACTS FROM FIRES BURNING IN THE
CASCADES, NOTABLY THE LITTLE GIANT FIRE. SMOKE WILL SETTLE INTO
THE VALLEYS AS INVERSIONS SET UP TONIGHT. DRAINAGE WINDS IS
EXPECTED TO PUSH SOME OF THIS SMOKE INTO KEAT FOR AT LEAST THE
MORNING HOURS. A NORTHEAST GRADIENT FOR TUESDAY MORNING WILL
ALSO BRING NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10-15 KTS AT KCOE AND KPUW BETWEEN
14-20Z. THERE IS A 15% CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER
THE NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS BY THE LATE AFTERNOON ON TUESDAY
(AFTER 21Z). AFTERNOON CONVECTION ON TUESDAY LOOKS TO WEAKEN
QUICKLY AS IT MOVES OF THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND UNLIKELY TO BE A
THREAT TO KLWS, BUT EXPECT TOWERING CUMULUS TO BE IN THE AREA.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: HIGH CONFIDENCE
IN VFR CONDITIONS FOR ALL TERMINALS APART FROM EAT. A STRONGER
NORTHWEST DRAINAGE FLOW THAN EXPECTED INTO EAT WILL BRING A
BETTER POTENTIAL FOR VISIBILITY BELOW 6SM AND IFR TO MVFR
CONDITIONS FOR TUESDAY MORNING. /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 55 95 60 93 60 85 / 0 0 10 10 0 0
COEUR D'ALENE 56 95 61 94 60 85 / 0 0 10 10 10 0
PULLMAN 50 95 54 92 52 82 / 0 0 0 10 0 0
LEWISTON 61 101 65 98 64 89 / 0 0 0 10 0 10
COLVILLE 46 93 51 93 50 85 / 0 0 10 10 0 0
SANDPOINT 51 91 56 92 54 83 / 0 0 0 20 10 0
KELLOGG 54 94 58 94 57 83 / 0 0 0 20 10 10
MOSES LAKE 57 96 58 94 57 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
WENATCHEE 65 94 67 94 65 85 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
OMAK 58 94 62 95 60 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
WA...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 9 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES.
AIR QUALITY ALERT UNTIL NOON PDT THURSDAY FOR CENTRAL CHELAN
COUNTY-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-OKANOGAN VALLEY-UPPER COLUMBIA
BASIN-WATERVILLE PLATEAU-WENATCHEE AREA-WESTERN CHELAN
COUNTY-WESTERN OKANOGAN COUNTY.
ID...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 9 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
LEWISTON AREA.
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