Wildfire in Washington, June 16 to 24, 2026

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1030 AM PDT Tue Jun 16 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Strong westerly winds will develop today with a cold front
  passage. Warm, dry, and gusty conditions will bring critical
  fire weather conditions. Winds will blow around unsecured
  objects, create strong cross winds and possibly result in
  blowing dust creating hazardous travel conditions.

- Warm temperatures and remaining dry through the rest of the
  work week.

- A passing weather system for the weekend will bring another
  round of breezy winds, but not as windy as today (Tuesday),
  and 15-30% chance of showers near the Canadian border.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
A cold front passage today will bring gusty westerly winds to
the Inland Northwest. Windy and dry conditions will result in
critical fire weather conditions. Strong cross winds, patchy
bowing dust, and isolated tree damage will also be possible with
winds today. Remaining warm and dry into the weekend. Then a
weather system over the weekend will bring the potential for
more breezy weather with a few showers near the Canadian
border.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

...STRONG DRY COLD FRONT PASSAGE TUESDAY...

Today and tonight: A cold front drops southeast across the area
later morning to early afternoon and exiting before evening. It
is forecast to remain precipitation-free, though some showers are
possible just north of the Canadian border. Behind the front,
PWATs drop to 45-75% of normal, bringing afternoon RH levels into
the mid-teens to lower 20s. Temperature will remain warm to hot in
the mid-80s to mid-90s. Winds will breezy to windy near the
Cascade gaps and western basin in the morning, then increase
throughout the area in the afternoon and evening before decreasing
in the late evening into overnight. Peak speeds of 20 to 30 mph
are possible, with gusts 30 to 50 mph. The front will draw a
140kt+ jet south along the US/Canadian border into eastern
Montana and a 10-15 mb gradient between Seattle and Wenatchee,
leading to such winds.

The hot, dry and windy set-up will bring elevated critical fire
weather conditions. The HDWI (Hot-Dry-Windy-Index) reaches toward
the 95th percentile of parts of basin. Red Flag Warnings remain
in place, with guidance showing the best combination of low RH and
stronger winds from about 12 pm to 9 pm Tuesday. Additionally, we
will have to keep an eye toward blowing dust, choppy waters,
difficulty for high-profile vehicles, maybe even some localized
power outages and minor tree damage. Wind advisories remain in
near Wenatchee and Waterville Plateau sounding, where winds
sustained near 30 mph and gusts to 50 mph are possible. The
advisory has also been expanded eastward across the Upper
Columbia Basin into the Spokane Area, Palouse, and lower Asotin
and Garfield County. The winds start to abate after 10 pm and
more notably heading into the overnight.

Wednesday to Monday: The Inland NW will remain in a progressive
pattern, with largely dry weather save for a couple exceptions.
The northwest flow turns more westerly in the latter part of the
week as baggy trough approaches and slides by on the weekend.
Some afternoon clouds are expected around the mountains, with
passing middle to high clouds from time to time. Some limited
shower chances skim along the Canadian border Saturday, with
guidance now showing a bit better chance for showers and t-storms
on Sunday across the northern zones into eastern Shoshone county.
Other limited shower chances linger near the Canadian border
Monday afternoon. Wind remain breezy Wednesday from the west to
northwest. Speeds of 7 to 15 mph with gusts of 15 to 25 mph are
possible, stronger near the lee of the Cascades. Afternoon minimum
RH values will still be in the mid-teens to low 20s and fire
weather conditions will still be elevated, but not at much as
Tuesday. Winds will be occasionally breezy near the
Cascades/Okanogan Valley the remainder of period, with another
peak around Saturday when winds could gust 30 to 40 mph, strongest
near the Cascades and western Columbia Basin. Temperatures will
be above normal through the period, with Wednesday seeing upper
70s and 80s and warming up toward the mid 80s to mid 90s Friday,
before another slight drop into the weekend. /Solveig

&&

.AVIATION...
18Z TAFs: A strong cold front sweeps through today. Westerly
winds will increase through the morning and peak in the
afternoon. A strong surface gradient will support sustained wind
speeds of around 25 kts with gusts up to around 40 kts in the
lee of the Cascades and across the Columbia Basin including all
TAF sites. There's potential for patchy blowing dust over the
Columbia Basin into the Palouse region with winds today. This
may result in reduced visibility at KMWH and potentially into
the Spokane Area (KGEG/SFF) and on the Palouse (KPUW), but any
blowing dust may also be very localized and have little if any
impact at airport terminals. Little moisture will accompany the
front will just a few wave clouds over the mountains. Winds will
relax this evening.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence
in VFR conditions. The one caveat is if blowing dust or any
large wildfires develop. Either of these factors could result in
localized visibility restrictions. JW

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

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        86  54  82  52  84  54 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Coeur d'Alene  84  52  79  52  82  55 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Pullman        84  50  77  48  81  51 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Lewiston       92  57  84  54  88  58 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Colville       86  50  81  48  84  50 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Sandpoint      84  51  77  50  80  52 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Kellogg        82  51  76  51  80  53 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Moses Lake     88  52  86  53  89  56 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Wenatchee      83  59  84  58  87  63 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Omak           87  53  84  55  87  58 /   0   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this
     evening for Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Moses Lake
     Area-Spokane Area-Upper Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse-
     Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area.
     Red Flag Warning from 10 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this
     evening for Colville Reservation (Zone 702)-Eastern
     Columbia Basin  -Palouse  -Spokane Area (Zone 708)-
     Foothills of Central Washington Cascades (Zone 705)-Lower
     Palouse  -Snake River (Zone 709)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)-
     Okanogan Valley (Zone 703)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-
     Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707).
ID...Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this
     evening for Idaho Palouse.

&&