Area forecast discussion...updated
National Weather Service Spokane Washington
736 PM PDT Wed Jun 19 2013
Synopsis...
cool and rainy conditions will be common across the region through
Thursday with the heaviest rainfall amounts concentrated across
portions of the Idaho Panhandle and northeastern Washington. The
rain will gradually subside late Friday with a drying and warming
trend expected briefly this weekend. Another period of wet and
cool weather will arrive potentially as early as Sunday afternoon
and persist through much of next week.
&&
Discussion...
..moderate rainfall accumulations tonight into Thursday for the
Idaho Panhandle may cause localized flooding and mud slides...
Update: the mid level deformation band has pushed north and east of
the region early this evening with much of the heavier rainfall
associated with this band across Montana into southwestern British Columbia.
Behind this band are widespread rain showers, which are generally
east of the Okanogan and Wenatchee river valleys as moisture wraps
into the region around a surface low pressure area located over
the upper Columbia Basin. The upper level trough of low pressure
is expected to push slowly north-northeastward across the region
tonight. A vorticity maximum around the base of the trough will
provide some additional lift and focus a heavier band of rainfall
across the eastern half of the forecast area (from the Washington Palouse
to the Spokane area to the northeast mtns and points eastward).
This band is beginning to take shape across the northeast blue
mtns into Pullman/Lewiston and into the central portion of
the Idaho Panhandle. Rainfall amounts were updated a bit with this
next band and were generally increased across the Washington Palouse and
across the Spokane area. We will also continue to see moisture
wrapping around cyclonically southward into the region from BC,
which will continue to produce rain showers across the northern
mtns that will track into the basin. Additional rainfall
amounts are expected to be around 0.50 inches in the valleys across
extreme eastern Washington to 0.75 inches in the mtns and 0.75-1.00
additional inches of rainfall across the Idaho Panhandle. These
amounts will likely result in some rises to creeks and small
streams and cause ponding of water in low lying areas. The wettest
areas up to this point have been across the central Panhandle
mtns to the northern Panhandle and into the northeast mtns;
current 24-hr rainfall totals through 7:00 PM generally range from
about 0.50 to 1.50 inches and up to around 2.00 inches in places
across the northern Panhandle. These areas are currently under a
Flood Advisory. At the moment, we have not received any reports of
flooding, but conditions may deteriorate as the next band sets up
across these areas; thus, the Flood Advisory will remain as is for
now, but may need to be updated later this evening as this next
band takes shape.
Temps were lowered slightly based off the 18z model runs and the
current observation trends. This change was relatively minor and
generally only resulted in a 1 to 2 degree decrease in low temps
for tonight. /Svh
&&
Aviation...
00z tafs: the initial band of rainfall is slowly pushing north and
eastward across the region and is currently draped across western
Montana into the northern Panhandle. A secondary band is beginning
to form across southeast Washington into the central Idaho Panhandle where
moderate rainfall has been reported at kpuw and klws. This band will
slowly push northward through tonight with the western most extent
of this band staying just east of kmwh. Isolated to scattered
showers will form between these two bands before steadier rainfall
begins to impact the Spokane/Coeur D'Alene areas. The boundary layer
will remain very moist tonight with MVFR/IFR cigs expected.
Visibilities will likely lower into MVFR category with the secondary
rain band as it lifts northward through tonight. /Svh
&&
Preliminary point temps/pops...
Spokane 47 56 45 61 46 70 / 90 90 60 60 20 10
Coeur D'Alene 48 54 43 60 45 69 / 100 90 70 60 40 20
Pullman 47 60 42 60 43 69 / 100 60 50 50 50 10
Lewiston 51 67 46 67 50 76 / 100 50 30 50 40 10
Colville 52 57 47 67 45 75 / 90 100 90 60 20 20
Sandpoint 50 53 44 60 43 70 / 100 100 90 60 40 20
Kellogg 46 52 41 57 44 66 / 100 100 70 70 60 30
Moses Lake 53 69 49 69 50 79 / 40 60 30 30 10 10
Wenatchee 54 67 52 68 54 78 / 20 60 40 30 10 10
Omak 52 63 50 69 49 77 / 60 80 60 50 10 10
&&
Otx watches/warnings/advisories...
Idaho...none.
Washington...none.
&&
$$
