008 FXUS66 KOTX 050546 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1046 PM PDT Thu Jun 4 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Occasional mountain shower chances and cooler late this week into this weekend. - Wind gusts 30 to 40 mph possible Friday afternoon. && .SYNOPSIS... Dry, stable conditions expected today followed by winds across the Basin on Friday. For the weekend, cooler and showery conditions return, with periodic breezy to windy conditions. Another round of showers expected midweek. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Friday: A low in the Gulf of Alaska is moving southeast towards the state of Washington. Lingering showers near northeast Washington and Northern Idaho are visible on radar and will continue for the next few hours. Elsewhere, expect dry and near normal temperatures through the rest of the day. Lows tonight will be in the mid 40s to low 50s. West to southwest winds moving across the Cascades will result in breezy conditions with gusts 20-25mph through the evening. Tomorrow, the low will move into the forecast area, and a tightening pressure gradient will lead to gusty winds regionwide. This will be the primary weather concern for tomorrow. Winds will gust to 25-30 mph through much of the Basin and Spokane/CdA area, but in the Wenatchee and Waterville Plateau areas have the potential to gust to 35-40 mph. Combined with low relative humidities, main concerns will be fire weather related, especially for any new fire starts. In areas with the higher winds, patchy blowing dust is possible. Driving in areas with stronger winds could be challenging, especially in high profile vehicles. No shower activity is expected. Saturday through Sunday: The low continues to pass slowly through the area on Saturday, bringing mostly dry conditions apart from the Cascades and northern mountain areas. 850mb temperatures over the Cascades support light snow for this precipitation, though no accumulations are expected. Elsewhere, precipitation type will be rain. A couple hundred Joules of CAPE will result in 10-20% chance of thunderstorms across much of the areas receiving precipitation. Winds tomorrow remain gusty through much of the Basin and Palouse areas, with gusts 20-25 mph anticipated. Sunday will remain dry apart from some light showers in the Idaho Panhandle. The incoming lower heights will lead to cooling temperatures, with Saturday anticipated to be the cooler day. High temperatures will be in the low to mid 60s, nearly 10 degrees below normal. Saturday night into Sunday, temperatures drop into the high 30s. Should temperatures continue to trend this way, frost issues may be seen early Sunday morning. Monday through Wednesday: Another low pressure system will impact the area at the beginning of the next work week, and is expected to bring a round of widespread beneficial precipitation to the forecast area. Temperatures will continue to trend a few degrees below normal. Long term models support 50-150 J/kg of CAPE and a low chance of thunderstorms with this rain, but will need to keep an eye on trends. Current precipitation estimates show the Columbia Basin seeing 0.25 inches of rain or more Tuesday through late Wednesday night, with deeper Basin areas seeing less at 0.10-0.25 inches. Mountain areas could receive up to 0.50 inches. /AS && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFs: VFR conditions expected at all TAF sites. Passing middle to high clouds tonight. A dry cold front moves in from the west Friday, with more clouds but dry weather except for the Cascade crest. Breezy conditions this evening subside after 02-03Z. Winds increase again 12-16Z Friday, peaking Friday 18Z Friday-03Z Saturday, with gusts of 20-30kts possible. Locally higher gusts of 35-40kts possible near the Cascades gaps and KLWS. Winds start to wane after 03-04Z. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in VFR conditions. Moderate confidence in the timing of winds. ----------------------- 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 47 70 45 63 40 65 / 0 0 0 20 20 0 Coeur d'Alene 47 68 46 61 41 62 / 0 0 0 20 20 10 Pullman 43 67 44 60 39 61 / 0 0 0 10 10 10 Lewiston 50 76 52 68 47 69 / 0 0 0 10 0 10 Colville 43 71 38 64 32 66 / 0 0 0 40 40 20 Sandpoint 46 67 45 60 39 60 / 0 0 0 20 30 20 Kellogg 45 68 46 59 41 59 / 0 0 0 20 20 20 Moses Lake 46 74 43 68 38 71 / 0 0 0 20 10 0 Wenatchee 52 71 48 66 46 71 / 0 0 0 10 10 0 Omak 50 73 43 64 39 71 / 0 0 0 60 10 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$