617
FXUS66 KOTX 100912
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
212 AM PDT Wed Jul 10 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Fire weather concerns will increase today as widespread triple
digit heat, with breezy to gusty winds return late this morning.
Slightly cooler temperatures arrive Thursday and Friday, before
warming up again this weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

...ONE MORE DAY OF NEAR-RECORD HEAT WEDNESDAY...
...INCREASED FIRE WEATHER DANGER WEDNESDAY...

Key messages for the rest of the week:

- Red Flag Warnings continue for parts of the region today.
- Temperatures cool by 5 to 10 degrees Thursday, warming again
heading into the weekend.
- No precipitation is in sight.

Wednesday: Strong high pressure will continue for one more day, with
hot and dry conditions across the Inland NW, with most locations
seeing temperatures somewhere between 100 and 110. A cold front will
push through the area, with increasing winds and dry air ahead.
Winds will increase late this morning, with gusts up to 30 mph in
the lee of the Cascades and Waterville Plateau, decreasing as you
move east towards Spokane. Relative humidity will drop into the
single digits to low teens across the region. Smoke from the Pioneer
Fire will result in poor air quality near Lake Chelan, with haze
extending over much of the region. Areas outside of there are likely
to see hazy skies but most smoke will remain above the surface.
Nighttime lows tonight will cool back into the 60s, several degrees
cooler than previous nights.

With the combination of heat, wind, and dry air, a Red Flag Warning
continues through today for the Cascades and Pioneer on Wednesday,
extending into the lee of the Cascades due to increasing winds as a
cold front passes over. Elevated instability will bring a slight
concern for dry lightning.

Thursday through Tuesday: Behind the front will be slightly cooler
temperatures for Thursday, with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler.
This will drop most of the high temperatures into the 90s to low
100s. With this cooldown, those without an AC will have a better
chance to cool off their house as nighttime lows will drop into the
50s and 60s. Temperatures look to rebound to end the week, warming
back up into the upper 90s to low 100s as weak ridging builds in
again. This will be short-lived as a low in Canada will help flatten
the ridge on Monday, allow temperatures to cool back into the 90s,
similar to Thursday. /KM

&&

.AVIATION...

06Z TAFS: VFR conditions will prevail. Local reductions in
visibility possible near and downwind of Lake Chelan due to smoke
from the Pioneer Fire. Breezy to gusty westerly winds expected
after 18Z Wednesday, particularly at KEAT and KMWH.

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       104  64  96  61  97  62 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Coeur d`Alene 101  62  93  59  95  60 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Pullman        99  61  91  59  94  60 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Lewiston      109  72 101  67 103  69 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Colville      101  55  95  54  95  55 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Sandpoint      97  60  91  55  92  56 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Kellogg        97  67  90  64  93  65 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Moses Lake    107  62  99  60 100  62 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Wenatchee     104  67  98  66  99  67 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Omak          107  64 101  65 102  65 /   0   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT this evening for Central Panhandle
     Mountains-Northern Panhandle.

     Excessive Heat Warning until 10 PM PDT this evening for Coeur
     d`Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-Lewis and Southern Nez Perce
     Counties-Lewiston Area.

WA...Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT this evening for Northeast
     Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Western Chelan County.

     Excessive Heat Warning until 10 PM PDT this evening for Central
     Chelan County-Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Moses Lake
     Area-Northeast Blue Mountains-Okanogan Valley-Spokane Area-
     Upper Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse-Waterville Plateau-
     Wenatchee Area-Western Okanogan County.

     Red Flag Warning from 2 PM this afternoon to 11 PM PDT this
     evening for East Portion of North Cascades National
     Park/Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East
     Washington Central Cascades (Zone 696)-Foothills of Central
     Washington Cascades (Zone 705)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)-
     Okanogan Valley (Zone 703)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-
     Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707).

&&

$$