Avalanche in Washington, January 9, 2026

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
219 PM PST Fri Jan 9 2026

.DISCUSSION...

Key Points:

1. High Pressure over the region through Saturday.

2. A system will bring precipitation, mainly to the
   Washington Cascades early next week.  Very warm
   temperatures also early next week.

3. High Pressure re-establishes itself for the remainder
   of the week.

High Pressure will remain in place over the western CONUS through
Saturday. This high will bring dry weather to the region. By
Sunday, the ridge will flatten as a weather system moves mainly
over the Washington Cascades and will bring precipitation. The
precipitation will continue into Monday, before ending on Tuesday.

Snow levels will initially be in the 3000-4000 foot range early
Sunday, but they will rise to over 6000 feet by Monday and
continue to rise to over 8000 feet by Tuesday. As a result, mostly
rain is expected with this event. Over 1 inch, and even close to
1.5 inches of QPF is possible along the crest of the Washington
Cascades through Tuesday with lesser amounts further down. This
rain, which is picked up by the ECMWF EFI would be in the 70th to
80th percentile during this time. QPF did come up a bit with the
12Z run, so will continue to monitor. The Naches River at
Cliffdell is expected to get just above Action Stage by early
next week and the Naches River near Naches gets close to Action
Stage. These forecasts will also be monitored. Current forecasts
along the Yakima River keep them all below Action Stage, though
they all rise.

Southerly winds will also become gusty Saturday and Sunday across
the Grande Ronde Valley, mainly in the 25 to 30 mph range, but at
this point, wind advisories do not look to become necessary.

After Tuesday, a large and strong area of high pressure sets up
through at least the end of the week. This will continue dry
weather over the region. Depending on the location of the high and
if cold air is trapped beneath it, there could end up being
fog/stratus/air stagnation issues in the long term.

High temperatures Monday through Wednesday will be in the 50s in
many lower elevation areas Monday and Tuesday and may push 60
degrees in central Oregon. These temperatures would be 10 to 15
degrees above normal and could be as much as 20 degrees above
normal in some locations.

The ECMWF EFI has most of Oregon and Washington in 0.8 to 0.9
anomalies for high temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday, with some
embedded areas of 0.9 to 0.95. On Monday the area is focused
mainly across the Columbia Basin, and by later in the week, the
areal coverage shrinks, but still exists across portions of
central and eastern Oregon.

&&

.AVIATION...
00z TAFs...VFR conditions expected through the period. Winds will
be light and terrain-driven, with sct-bkn mid-level cigs during
the evening becoming more ovc overnight. 74

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  30  49  30  49 /   0   0   0   0
ALW  34  48  33  47 /   0   0   0   0
PSC  29  45  29  44 /   0   0   0   0
YKM  30  43  30  44 /   0   0   0  10
HRI  30  45  29  46 /   0   0   0   0
ELN  26  39  29  40 /   0   0  10  30
RDM  26  50  26  52 /   0   0   0   0
LGD  27  42  30  43 /   0   0   0   0
GCD  27  47  28  49 /   0   0   0   0
DLS  33  45  33  46 /   0   0   0  10

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...None.
WA...None.
&&

SHORT TERM...77
LONG TERM....77
AVIATION...74