143 FXUS66 KOTX 101146 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 446 AM PDT Wed Oct 10 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A dry and mild weather pattern is expected for the remainder of the week and into the next. Low temperatures tonight will be quite cool with most areas dipping into the 30s with pockets of 20s in the sheltered valleys of northeast Washington and north Idaho. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Thursday Night: Dry northerly flow will continue today as the ridge axis in the eastern Pacific begins to nose onto the west coast ahead of the next weather system for Friday. Clouds have been slow to dissipate across the Cascades and southeast WA and the southern ID Panhandle. Expect clouds to continue to thin and dissipate this morning for a mostly sunny day. The elevated winds overnight have hindered fog development. The boundary layer will continue to dry through the day and models are not showing much fog development over the next 2 nights. Daytime temps will continue to be several degrees below average for this time of the year. Valley temps will top out in the 50s to low 60s. Given our decreasing clouds tonight and little if any fog development, tonight will be quite chilly, about 3 to 7 degrees below average. The typical cold pockets will be below freezing as well as portions around Spokane county, Palouse and Columbia Basin. The Moses Lake area is still in their growing season, but the latest models warmed temperatures down there a few degrees for tonight. Will need to monitor to see if a freeze warning may be warranted, but currently there is not a large enough area of below freezing temps to issue. Have added frost to a large portion of the valleys. /Nisbet Friday and Saturday: The passage of an upper level trough through British Columbia on Friday is expected to bring some mid and high clouds to the Inland Northwest on Friday. At this time, it looks like precipitation chances will remain north of the Canadian border. High temps on Friday are expected to reach the low to mid 60s which is pretty close to average for mid October. By mid to late afternoon, surface high pressure building over southern BC will likely yield a strong enough northerly gradient to channel 10 to 20 mph winds down the Okanogan Valley. North winds should peak in the evening and overnight hours in the 15 to 25 mph range in places like Omak, Waterville, and Ephrata. Elsewhere, north winds should generally be in the 5 to 15 mph range. There is good model agreement that pressure gradients will relax by midday Saturday leading to decreasing winds during the afternoon and evening. High temps on Saturday should top out in the upper 50s to low 60s...a few degrees cooler than Friday. Sunday through Tuesday: There is good model agreement that high pressure will remain anchored off the coast early next week. Our region is expected to remain under the influence of a dry northerly flow with near average temperatures. By the middle of next week, we may be dealing with warmer weather as the GFS and ECMWF push our off-shore ridge inland. /GKoch && .AVIATION... 12Z TAFS: BKN cloud deck will thin and dissipate through the morning for KPUW-KLWS-KEAT. NE winds up to 15kts will continue from KSZT to KCOE through about 18Z. Otherwise VFR conditions and light winds for the next 24 hours. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 54 33 57 37 61 38 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 54 31 56 35 60 37 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pullman 53 32 56 34 60 33 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 57 36 61 39 65 41 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 56 32 59 35 62 35 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 53 31 54 34 57 34 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 52 32 53 34 58 35 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 60 33 62 36 65 37 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 59 39 61 42 66 41 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 60 35 61 38 65 40 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. && $$