High Wind Watch 1, NWS Spokane, WA

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1211 AM PDT Tue Mar 10 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Colder with moderate to heavy mountain snow this week over
  the Cascade and North Idaho mountain passes.

- Potential for strong winds Wednesday night into Thursday
  morning.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Persistent snow will bring several days of winter travel
conditions over the mountains this week. We are also monitoring
Wednesday through Friday for heavy mountain snow, strong winds,
and the potential for light lowland snow accumulations in the
northern mountain valleys. Additional moderate snow in the
mountains will be possible into this weekend as well.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
...PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS WEEK AND
POTENTIAL FOR STRONG WINDS WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY...

Today: A convergence zone aimed perfectly at Stevens Pass has brought
several additional inches of snow. The razor thin band of snow
will waver through the morning and there will be additional snow
shower activity in the Cascades through much of the day. The
latest hi-res models bring an additional 3-6 inches of snow, on
top of around 8 inches that has already fallen Monday evening.
Rain/snow shower activity in the lowlands will be limited to
extreme eastern WA and north ID. A trace of snow could
accumulate in the grass under these showers.

Tonight through next Monday: The atmospheric river arrives late
Tuesday into Wednesday and the temperatures aloft moderate.
There will be a steady increase of snow in the Cascades and
eventually the ID Panhandle Mountains. There is still a chance
for some lowland snow Wednesday morning in eastern WA and north
ID, but confidence is low. Any snow that falls would quickly
melt in the late morning and early afternoon. A blizzard warning
starts at 5 PM this evening in the Cascades when snow rates
increase. However, the main concern for blizzard conditions in
the Cascades will be Wednesday evening and Wednesday night as a
cold front sags south into the region. Winds aloft will be
howling Wednesday night as a low moves through southern BC and
into southwest Alberta and pressure increases off the WA/OR
coast. Models show 500 mb winds around 90-135 kt at 500 mb,
something not seen often here. Even at 700 mb, models show
around up to 90 kt of westerly flow. I am concerned about
widespread damaging winds across the region, particularly the
east slopes of the Cascades (driven by mountain waves) and
northeast Washington and north Idaho (pressure gradient/mixing
driven). Winds decrease fairly quickly Thursday afternoon as the
low pressure in southwest AB peels east into eastern MT.

Snow will be nearly continuous from Tuesday night through Friday
in the Cascades and ID Panhandle Mountains. Snow levels will
waver at Lookout Pass and much less precipitation is expected,
so impacts will be much less compared to the Cascade passes.
Ensemble clusters indicate the heavy snow will ramp down Friday
(but not completely stop) into the weekend as the high pressure
ridge centered off the coast of California strengthens,
displacing the polar jet well into Canada. Hydrology concerns
increase late this week for the ID Panhandle with lowland rain
and some snowmelt. Currently Paradise Creek at Moscow, Palouse
River at Potlatch, and the Coeur D’Alene river at Cataldo are
forecasted to reach action stage between Friday and Saturday.
The Stehekin River will also hover around action stage for much
of the week as well. There is still good agreement of another
atmospheric river coming early next week, perhaps being warm
enough to bring high elevation rain. This would pose concerns
for a rain on snow event.

The global ensemble 25-75th percentile total snowfall shows
36-57 inches for Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass and 11-24
inches for Lookout Pass from now through Saturday morning. /DB

&&

.AVIATION...
06Z TAFS: VFR conditions expected at all terminals through the
forecast period, except the first few hours for KGEG-KSFF-KCOE-
KPUW with passing snow showers. Visibility under these showers
could dip to 4 to 5 miles. Winds will be breezy Tuesday
afternoon.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence
in VFR conditions through the forecast period except for MVFR
conditions under snow showers.

-----------------------

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        42  31  46  40  48  38 /  10  30  70  80  60  80
Coeur d'Alene  41  29  43  38  46  37 /  30  60  90  90  80  90
Pullman        38  29  44  40  46  40 /  30  60  90  90  90  90
Lewiston       46  33  50  45  54  46 /  20  50  70  90  90  80
Colville       44  27  45  35  49  33 /  10  30  70  80  50  70
Sandpoint      39  29  40  37  44  35 /  40  70 100 100  90  90
Kellogg        36  28  40  37  41  38 /  70  80 100 100 100 100
Moses Lake     47  31  53  41  53  39 /  10  10  20  40  40  50
Wenatchee      45  31  47  39  48  38 /  20  40  60  80  70  70
Omak           45  29  47  36  53  33 /  10  30  50  70  50  60

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...High Wind Watch from Wednesday evening through Thursday
     morning for Central Chelan County-Lower Garfield and
     Asotin Counties-Moses Lake Area-Northeast Mountains-
     Okanogan Highlands-Okanogan Valley-Spokane Area-Upper
     Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse-Waterville Plateau-
     Wenatchee Area.
     Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM PDT early this morning for
     Western Chelan County.
     Blizzard Warning from 5 PM this afternoon to 5 AM PDT Thursday
     for Western Chelan County.
     Winter Storm Watch from late Wednesday night through Friday
     morning for Western Chelan County.
ID...High Wind Watch from Wednesday evening through Thursday
     morning for Central Panhandle Mountains-Coeur d'Alene
     Area-Idaho Palouse-Northern Panhandle.

&&