FXUS66 KOTX 082351 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 451 PM PDT Wed Jul 8 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Critical Fire Weather: Red Flag Warnings in effect Wednesday due to gusty winds and low relative humidity. - Elevated fire weather conditions through the weekend. && .SYNOPSIS... Critical fire weather conditions will continue through Wednesday evening for central and eastern Washington. Weather will remain and dry through the week with breezy afternoon winds. This will keep fire weather conditions elevated through the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Wednesday night through Sunday: A cold front traversing the Inland Northwest is resulting in dry and breezy conditions this afternoon and evening. Critical fire weather conditions will continue across much of central and eastern Washington through the evening. Winds will gradually weaken tonight across most areas, though breezy conditions will persist in the lee of the Cascades. Through early Friday, the region will remain under a zonal flow aloft, situated south of an upper- level trough over western Canada. Diurnal marine pushes into western Washington will tighten the cross- Cascade pressure gradient daily, driving enhanced evening winds through the Cascade gaps. As a result, elevated fire weather conditions will persist for the next couple of days, particularly through the Cascade gaps of the Cascades, due to the combination of low relative humidity and breezy winds. By late Friday, upper-level flow shifts southwesterly as a closed low migrates southeastward along the British Columbia coast and a ridge builds over the Desert Southwest. This pattern will keep temperatures warm across the Inland Northwest under the subtle influence of the ridge. On Saturday, the upper-level low along the BC coast low is projected to track northeastward, with winds increasing aloft, and generating more widespread breezy conditions during the afternoon and evening. This will bring continued elevated fire weather concerns, with the highest confidence (60-90% probability) for sustained winds exceeding 15 mph and relative humidity dropping below 20% focused in the Okanogan Valley. Monday through Thursday: Uncertainty in the synoptic pattern increases significantly next week with respect to additional systems coming off the Pacific and how far north the upper-level ridge will amplify into the Inland Northwest. If the arrival of the next system is as early as Monday night, this will stunt amplification into the INW, with temperatures remaining similar to the weekend and a risk of thunderstorms early in the week. If the Pacific systems are delayed until the Wednesday or Thursday timeframe, this would allow the upper-level ridge to build into the INW, with temperatures warming significantly and a risk for thunderstorms by mid-week. During the Tuesday to Thursday timeframe, there is a 7 to 11 degree spread between the 25th and 75th percentiles for maximum temperatures in the NBM, highlighting this uncertainty. /vmt && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFs: Widespread VFR will prevail through the 00z TAF cycle. In the wake of an earlier passing cold front, breezy winds will continue across the region through about 03z this evening. The highest gusts are expected in the lee of the Cascade gaps, with northwesterly gusts around 30kts possible at KEAT through 07z. Winds will remain elevated in this region overnight, though elsewhere subside to 7-8kts or less. Light to modest west-southwesterly breezes expected again for Thursday, though aside from near the Cascade gaps (possibly extending to KMWH), gusts should remain under 20kts at the TAF sites. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence for VFR conditions regionwide. ----------------------- 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 56 86 57 87 57 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 57 84 57 86 58 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pullman 51 82 51 84 52 85 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 60 91 59 93 61 94 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 53 87 54 86 54 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 56 84 55 85 56 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 56 82 55 84 56 85 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 55 90 56 90 56 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 61 88 62 88 61 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 58 91 59 89 58 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...Red Flag Warning until 10 PM PDT this evening for Colville Reservation (Zone 702)-Eastern Columbia Basin -Palouse - Spokane Area (Zone 708)-Foothills of Central Washington Cascades (Zone 705)-Foothills of Northeast Washington (Zone 701)-Lower Palouse -Snake River (Zone 709)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)-Okanogan Valley (Zone 703)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707). ID...None. && $$