FXUS66 KOTX 071838 AFDOTX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1038 AM PST THU JAN 7 2016 .SYNOPSIS... Light snow showers will linger through Saturday for portions of the Inland Northwest. A seasonably cold and occasionally unsettled weather pattern with no major storm systems is expected from Sunday through early next week. The next storm could affect the region by next Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION... Morning update: The main focus for today will be fog stretching across the Columbia Basin and mix of rain and snow showers across Idaho and far eastern reaches of Washington. Fog: Dense fog was present across many locations this morning but is beginning to lift across the Palouse and Columbia Basin. As of 10AM...the lower visibilities were on the Waterville Plateau and Wenatchee Area but even these have improved slightly over the last 30 minutes. Fog will continue to slowly lift into a low stratus deck with motorists generally encountering poor visibilities when climbing out of the lowest elevations and into higher terrain. As such, the dense fog advisory has been allowed to expire and will continue to handle areas dealing with dense fog with the short- term forecast product. Showers: Morning satellite shows a strong circulation or vort max slowly tracking from NE WA into N Idaho. The convective shower activity stretching from Spokane-Lookout Pass and points northward is largely tied to this feature. 12z balloon data also indicated some fairly steep lapse rates between 850-650 mb which will allow showers to quickly form. This instability is located between -3 and -15C suggesting cloud depths will extend into the favored ice growth zone and we have gotten some reports of large snowflakes near Sandpoint with lowlands picking up a quick 1/2" while 1-2 inches will be possible locally in the mountains. Further south near Spokane and into the Palouse and L-C Valley, the remains of the warm air will bring a mix of rain/snow and any locations which are sitting below freezing will stand the potential for brief freezing rain. Southeastern WA and the lower Idaho Panhandle is also under an area of midlevel convergence where light northerly flow on the backside of the vort max is meeting up with the next, decaying band of moisture from the south and we have received reports from Lewiston of a light rain/snow mix. As the vort max ejects east, all models agree the air mass will cool in the midlevels and most precipitation late this afternoon and into tonight will fall in the form of light snow showers...at least ending the threat for freezing rain region- wide. /sb && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: Main aviation concern will be fog and low clouds impacting most terminals as moist boundary layer resides with little to no wind. Fog to slowly lift into stratus deck this afternoon and gradually return to the surface as fog overnight with timing carrying low confidence. Light showers of rain/snow bcmg all snow after 00z will impact terminals in Idaho and far eastern reaches of Washington. Brief -fzra possible KGEG and KPUW through 20z with temps persisting 30-32F then a combination of temps near 33F or change to snow will eliminate the fzra threat. After 05z...there is a northeast push of drier air aloft with NE winds incr KSZT-KCOE. This should bring some improvement to KCOE and potentially KGEG-KSFF btwn 11-16z. /sb && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 34 25 32 22 29 18 / 20 20 30 20 10 0 Coeur d'Alene 35 25 32 23 30 18 / 20 30 30 20 10 0 Pullman 33 27 33 23 31 18 / 20 20 30 20 10 10 Lewiston 38 30 37 28 33 24 / 20 20 30 20 10 10 Colville 35 25 33 24 31 20 / 40 30 30 10 10 0 Sandpoint 34 25 30 22 28 17 / 50 40 40 20 10 10 Kellogg 34 25 30 22 29 17 / 40 30 50 40 10 10 Moses Lake 33 26 34 25 33 21 / 10 10 20 10 10 10 Wenatchee 35 29 34 27 32 24 / 10 10 10 10 10 10 Omak 34 27 31 24 31 19 / 10 20 20 10 10 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None WA...Air Stagnation Advisory until 4 PM PST Tuesday for East Slopes Northern Cascades-Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands- Okanogan Valley-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area. && $$