FXUS66 KOTX 132309 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 409 PM PDT Mon Apr 13 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - A robust cold front to deliver valley rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds Tuesday through Thursday. - Drier and warmer weather returns Friday into the weekend. && .SYNOPSIS... A cold front passage Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday will bring lowland rain, mountain snow, and breezy to windy conditions. Some snow will make it down to the lowlands Wednesday night into Thursday morning on the tail end of the mid- week system. && .DISCUSSION... Monday afternoon and evening: Monday afternoon and evening will feature breezy westerly winds through the Cascade gaps and across the Columbia Basin into the Central ID Panhandle. In addition to the winds, thunderstorm chances (15 to 25 percent) will linger over northeastern WA (north of a line from Rosalia to Wauconda) and across North ID. Thunderstorms will be widely scattered and short-lived, similar to what we've seen the past couple of days. The main threats with any storms that develop will be locally heavy rain, gusty and erratic winds, and pea- sized hail. Tuesday to Thursday: Low pressure drops southward from the Gulf of AK through this period, enveloping the Inland Northwest in colder air and bringing returning chances for precipitation. Rain and mountain snow chances increase through Tuesday as the low approaches, then stick around through Wednesday night (for the Cascades and Eastern WA) and through Thursday (for the ID Panhandle). The exception will be over Central WA where rain shadowing due to strong westerly flow aloft will keep PoPs lower, between 20 and 40 percent. Snow levels will start out between 3500-4500 feet (lowest near the Cascades) Tuesday afternoon, then will drop to between 1000-1500 feet by Thursday morning. Look for mountain snow and lowland rain to start, followed by a transition to a rain/snow mix or even all snow for some lowland areas overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. Precipitation chances start to wane by then, but there will still be potential for some lowland accumulations during that time frame. The biggest snow impacts are expected over the mountain passes. Here are some 48-hour snow probabilities of 2 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches from Tuesday morning to Thursday morning: 2 4 6 8 12 Stevens Pass 100% 100% 100% 75% 25% Snoqualmie Pass 100% 90% 80% 50% 10% Lookout Pass 98% 80% 55% 40% 10% Sherman Pass 75% 45% 25% 15% 1% The chance for 0.1 inches of snow at select lowland locations for Wednesday night into Thursday AM: Pullman 55% Sandpoint 60% Spokane 20% Winds will remain gusty through this Tuesday-Thursday period. Tuesday's winds will be southwest 15-20 mph with gusts of 25-40 mph. Winds turn more west-northwest Wednesday and Thursday, with similar speeds but gusts around 20-30 mph. Friday through Sunday: Conditions trend warmer and drier Friday into the weekend as a weak ridge of high pressure builds in behind the exiting low. && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS: IFR to MVFR conditions for KGEG-KSFF-KCOE-KPUW will trend towards VFR this afternoon as precipitation shifts east. Gusty southwest winds will increase into the early afternoon in the Inland northwest gusting around 20-30 kt. There is a 10-20% chance of showers and thunderstorms from 00-03z for KGEG-KSFF- KCOE. Confidence is too low for thunderstorms in the TAF. Late overnight/early Tuesday the potential for some stratus develops for KGEG/SFF/KCOE/KPUW, generally 10-18Z. Shower chances return from the west to east between 18-00Z. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Moderate to high confidence in VFR conditions this evening; moderate confidence in MVFR conditions at KGEG/KSFF/KCOE/KPUW 10-18Z, with HREF showing around 60-70% chance. Low confidence in -tsra this evening at TAF sites. Better risk over the NE WA and N ID counties. ----------------------- 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 37 51 38 47 30 49 / 10 40 90 80 40 30 Coeur d'Alene 37 51 38 45 30 46 / 20 50 100 90 60 60 Pullman 35 51 39 45 29 44 / 10 20 90 100 70 60 Lewiston 37 59 44 52 34 49 / 10 10 90 90 60 50 Colville 35 53 35 50 27 52 / 30 70 90 70 40 30 Z TAFS: IFR to MVFR conditions for KGEG-KSFF-KCOE-KPUW will Sandpoint 37 45 36 40 29 42 / 60 80 100 90 70 70 Kellogg 37 46 38 43 29 41 / 50 50 100 100 70 90 Moses Lake 37 58 40 55 31 57 / 0 20 20 40 10 0 Wenatchee 42 55 39 52 34 55 / 0 40 50 30 10 0 Omak 38 50 36 47 29 51 / 0 50 50 30 10 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 11 AM Tuesday to 5 PM PDT Wednesday for Okanogan Highlands. Winter Storm Warning from 11 AM Tuesday to 5 AM PDT Wednesday for Western Chelan County. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 AM Tuesday to 5 AM PDT Wednesday for Western Okanogan County. ID...None. && $$