FXUS66 KOTX 090429 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 929 PM PDT Thu May 8 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Warm temperatures Friday and Saturday. - Cooler with periods of showers and afternoon thunderstorms Sunday through Tuesday. - Calmer and warmer for the rest of next week. && .SYNOPSIS... Temperatures climb back into the 70s to lower 80s Friday and Saturday. Cooler and wetter weather pattern returns late Saturday and into early next week with several opportunities for showers and afternoon thunderstorms. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight and Friday: The region will stabilizes behind the exiting cold front from the day. Increasing mid and upper level clouds will slowly filter over the Cascades as a deepening trough along the coast begins to press into the Pacific Northwest. Depending on the timing of the clouds, northern valleys could dip below freezing as radiational cooling will drive overnight lows down into the 30s. Cloud cover will help insulate these areas. With the stabilizing airmass, Friday is expected to be warmer as highs climb into the 70s and low 80s. Ensembles continue to show an increasing instability over the Lower Idaho Panhandle and extreme Southeast Washington on Friday afternoon. The confidence is low as they only bring a less than 10% chance for convection. But the threat of a thunderstorm is still possible Friday afternoon. /JDC Saturday through Wednesday: The weekend will start off warm and dry under a ridge of high pressure with afternoon temperatures rising into the mid 70s to low 80s on Saturday. Sunday will mark the beginning of a cooler, wetter pattern as a deep center of low pressure approaches the West Coast. High temperatures Sunday will be in the upper 60s to low 70s, several degrees cooler than Saturday. By Monday, highs will drop into the upper 50s to mid 60s where they'll remain through at least Tuesday. An unstable atmosphere will be favorable for isolated thunderstorms to develop each afternoon starting Sunday primarily over higher terrain along the Canadian border and throughout the ID Panhandle. Between Sunday and Wednesday, probabilities for at least 0.5 inches of rain are 10% to 20 % for Central WA (Chelan, Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Othello, Ritzville), 30% to 50% for Northern WA (Colville, Chewelah, Omak) and far Eastern WA (Deer Park, Spokane, Pullman), and 60 to 80% for the ID Panhandle. /Fewkes && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFs: VFR conditions will continue through 06z Saturday with passing high clouds. Winds will be diurnally driven at sustained speeds of less than 10 mph. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in VFR conditions. ----------------------- 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 40 79 48 77 50 66 / 0 0 0 0 10 30 Coeur d'Alene 40 78 48 77 47 67 / 0 0 0 0 20 30 Pullman 42 77 49 74 47 65 / 0 0 0 0 20 40 Lewiston 48 85 55 81 54 71 / 0 0 0 0 20 40 Colville 37 75 43 76 44 66 / 0 0 0 0 10 30 Sandpoint 40 76 47 75 48 64 / 0 0 0 0 20 40 Kellogg 44 77 52 74 50 66 / 0 0 0 0 30 50 Moses Lake 40 80 49 80 49 70 / 0 0 0 0 0 20 Wenatchee 46 80 52 76 49 69 / 0 0 0 0 0 10 Omak 43 78 47 73 45 67 / 0 0 0 0 0 20 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$