Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 6 to 7, 2022

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1003 PM PST Wed Jan 5 2022

.SYNOPSIS...
Parts of central Washington will experience one of the biggest
snow events in many years tonight into Thursday morning including
the Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and Chelan areas. Motorists with plans
to travel across the Cascade Passes tonight into Thursday should
closely monitor pass conditions before making their trip. Friday
will be quite windy with gusts as high as 40 to 50 mph across the
Columbia Basin, Palouse, and West Plains. Quieter weather will
arrive over the weekend and persist into early next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Forecast update this evening was to slow the onset of the snow for
northeast Washington and the Northern Panhandle. The warm front is
pushing across the region a bit slower than expected. Winds at 700
mbs are still mostly northwesterly with the warm front stalled
over the southern portion of eastern Washington. The prognoses is
for those winds to back more southwesterly around midnight, which
should result in more progress to the northeast with the frontal
band. These updates didn't change the overall snow forecast, and
no updates are needed to the winter storm warnings and advisories
at this time. /SVH

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS:

...HEAVY SNOW TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING FOLLOWED BY THE
POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT FREEZING RAIN THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...

Snow will gradually increase across the region with with the warm
front currently progressed up to KLWS to KEAT. Snow will push into
northeast Washington and the Northern Panhandle between 08-10Z
tonight. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will persist
until mid morning with accumulations of a foot or more by mid to
late evening. Significant runway accumulations are expected for
most airports overnight into Thursday morning. A change to
freezing rain is a good bet for Pullman, Moses Lake, and possibly
Wenatchee during the day Thursday. Ceilings below 1000ft and
visibility reductions below a mile will be common during the snow
and visibility reductions may linger beyond the snow as light warm
advection winds develop during the day Thursday over a fresh
snowpack. /SVH

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane        21  34  31  41  23  31 / 100 100  90  80  10   0
Coeur d'Alene  23  34  33  42  24  31 / 100 100 100  90  30  10
Pullman        25  38  36  40  26  31 / 100 100  90  90  20  10
Lewiston       31  42  40  47  32  38 / 100 100  80  80  20   0
Colville       18  27  23  38  15  28 / 100 100  70  70  10  10
Sandpoint      21  29  27  39  25  30 / 100 100 100  90  50  20
Kellogg        20  35  33  40  25  30 / 100 100 100 100  60  40
Moses Lake     22  32  29  40  20  30 / 100 100  50  40   0   0
Wenatchee      21  29  28  39  23  33 / 100 100  70  50  10   0
Omak           17  29  27  39  17  28 / 100 100  50  40   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Thursday for Coeur d'Alene
     Area-Idaho Palouse.

     Winter Weather Advisory until 7 AM PST Thursday for Lewis and
     Southern Nez Perce Counties-Lewiston Area.

     Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Friday for Northern
     Panhandle.

     Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Friday for Central Panhandle
     Mountains.

WA...Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Thursday for Spokane Area-
     Washington Palouse-Western Chelan County.

     Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Thursday for Central Chelan
     County-Moses Lake Area-Okanogan Highlands-Okanogan Valley-
     Upper Columbia Basin-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area-
     Western Okanogan County.

     Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST Thursday for Northeast
     Blue Mountains.

     Winter Weather Advisory until 7 AM PST Thursday for Lower
     Garfield and Asotin Counties.

     Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Friday for Northeast
     Mountains.

&&

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Spokane WA
421 AM PST Wed Jan 5 2022

IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041-043-044-047>049-061230-
Northern Panhandle-Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-
Central Panhandle Mountains-Lewiston Area-
Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties-Northeast Blue Mountains-
Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Washington Palouse-
Moses Lake Area-Upper Columbia Basin-Spokane Area-
Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Wenatchee Area-
Okanogan Valley-Waterville Plateau-Central Chelan County-
Western Chelan County-Western Okanogan County-
421 AM PST Wed Jan 5 2022

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho...
North Central Idaho...Central Washington...East Central
Washington...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and
Southeast Washington.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A strong winter storm will impact the region Wednesday night into
Thursday. Heavy snow will create treacherous travel conditions
across the mountain passes. Moderate to heavy snow accumulations
are expected in the valleys. Be prepared for a snowy, potentially
slow Thursday morning commute.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

Snow will continue to fall Thursday into Friday across Northern
Washington and North Idaho. Snow will end or slowly transition to
rain from south to north across the Columbia Basin and into the
valleys around Spokane and Cd'A. A brief period of freezing rain
will be possible during this transition but significant ice
accumulations are not expected.

Heavy wet snow accumulations in the Cascades could lead to some
tree damage and power outages, especially near the crest where 2
to 3 feet of snow is expected to fall.