591 FXUS66 KOTX 282225 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 325 PM PDT Sun Jun 28 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Breezy gap winds persist through this evening along the Cascades. - Wetting rains overnight for eastern WA and north ID including over 1.00" of rain in the mountains of ID. - Thunderstorms in northeast WA and north ID Monday afternoon && .SYNOPSIS... A band of rain is expected to impact much of the Inland Northwest later this evening and overnight. Following the rain, scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop Monday afternoon over north ID and northeast WA. Unsettled weather and cooler than normal temperatures will persist the remainder of the week with isolated shower activity. By the weekend, a ridge will build bringing temperatures back up to normal in time for the holiday weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight through Monday... The satellite view over the Pacific Northwest is an impressive site for late June, particularly when you consider that 5 years ago today was the peak of the historic heatwave that brought record breaking temperatures. Three distinct circulations can be seen on the water vapor imagery; the parent low over northern Nevada, a second more vigorous circulation retrograding over northern Montana, and a final weaker circulation moving due south on the western periphery of the trof. It is the northern Montana circulation that will bring the Inland Northwest a much needed band of wetting rains overnight and a round of thunderstorms Monday afternoon. The cloud shield ahead of this wave has already overspread much of Washington and radar echoes are now showing up over far northern Idaho. Models have come into agreement that a band of rain will move south and west this evening, bringing north Idaho and eastern WA approximately .15-30" of rain in the lower elevations and heavier amounts in the ID mountains (.50-1.25"). The 992 mb surface low pressure currently located in northwest Montana will slowly fill to 998 mb and drift southeast by this time tomorrow. The relaxing pressure gradient across the Cascades will help reduce the gap winds that are currently gusting 30-40 mph. Instability increases Monday afternoon over far northern ID and the northeast WA mountains resulting in scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms. Model guidance depicts over 1000 J/kg of most unstable CAPE near the Canada border but quickly decreases to below 250 J/kg over Spokane and Lincoln Counties. The expectation is that storms will develop in the early afternoon and drift south-southwest toward the Spokane/CdA metro area. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) currently paints the northern half of Lincoln, Spokane, and Kootenai Counties in general thunder Monday. While severe weather is not anticipated, brief heavy rain, small hail (<.25"), and gusty winds are all possible in this area through 2000 Monday. The limited instability will lead to storms weakening as they approach I90, although gusty outflow winds and brief heavy rain is still a distinct possibility in the metro area. Tuesday through Friday... Following the active first 24 hours of the forecast period, conditions settle down over the Inland Northwest. The anomalous trof over the western US is reinvigorated by a new parent low dropping south out of the Yukon and into northern British Columbia. This trof will remain over the Inland Northwest through the week bringing unsettled conditions...meaning partly to mostly cloudy skies with afternoon showers and isolated thunderstorms. The lower heights will also keep temperatures 5-10 degrees F below normal for this time of year. 4th of July Weekend...Models have consistently started to nudge the trof to the east on Friday resulting in a building ridge over the PacNW just in time for the holiday weekend. Temperatures will begin climbing back closer to normal by Saturday (upper 70s to lower 80s) and above normal by Sunday (widespread 80s). The upper level ridge will help clear out the clouds and bring dry conditions for what looks like a beautiful holiday weekend. /AB && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFs: Gusty west to southwest winds across the region today, especially for KEAT with west-northwest winds peaking between 1z-8z with gusts near 35 kts. An area of stratiform rain associated with this low will track from northeast to southwest across North Idaho and Eastern WA tonight. The chance for reduced flight categories increases tonight and especially tomorrow morning. IFR to MVFR cigs will be possible at all sites except for MWH/EAT. MVFR vis possible mainly from COE to PUW to LWS. Improvements to cigs expected near or just after end of TAF period. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: There is a 40-50 percent chance of MVFR CIGS developing after 06z tonight at GEG/SFF/PUW/LWS and near 60 percent at COE. There is also a 25-35 percent chance of IFR CIGS at GEG/SFF/PUW/LWS and near 40% chance at COE. ----------------------- 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 52 72 51 70 48 73 / 90 30 40 30 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 51 68 50 69 50 72 / 100 60 60 50 0 0 Pullman 46 64 48 68 44 70 / 90 80 20 10 0 0 Lewiston 52 71 51 77 52 78 / 90 90 10 10 10 0 Colville 54 80 52 70 44 74 / 80 40 80 60 30 30 Sandpoint 52 67 50 66 47 70 / 100 70 80 60 10 10 Kellogg 47 61 48 67 48 70 / 100 100 40 50 10 10 Moses Lake 57 81 54 79 48 79 / 30 20 10 10 0 0 Wenatchee 59 80 58 78 55 78 / 10 10 10 10 0 0 Omak 57 85 57 77 52 78 / 30 10 40 40 30 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. ID...None. && $$