Sandpoint, Idaho 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

902
FXUS66 KOTX 142342
AFDOTX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
342 PM PST Wed Jan 14 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Dry and stagnant pattern under strong ridge of high pressure
  through the weekend and into next week.

- Areas of dense fog, especially overnight and morning.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Strong high pressure will remain in place well into next week.
clouds and fog are expected to impact the lowlands with sunshine
in the mountains.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Thursday through Wednesday: The main story through the next week
will be a strong ridge of high pressure delivering stable
weather conditions. High confidence for dry conditions with the
only caveat coming from any flurries or freezing drizzle that
gets squeezed out of the low stratus.

Speaking of low clouds, this will be the most impactful weather
element for the period. We have witnessed dense fog development
Wednesday morning across most valleys of North Idaho, Northern
WA, and within the Cascade valleys. These low clouds have made
little to no movement throughout the day and will remain locked
in place overnight with a continued threat for impacts to travel
from low visibility. Dense fog advisories have been issued for
the evening commute which continue into Thursday morning.

A weak midlevel wave will be swinging through from the northwest
overnight into Thursday. This will bring a weak push of
northerly winds through the Okanogan Valley and northern
mountains. Confidence is not high these winds will have enough
force to scrub out the low clouds but may bring enough mixing to
"briefly" allow some breaks before low clouds fill back in its
wake. Otherwise, there are no other weather features of note
that will change the trajectory of this weather pattern with the
biggest change expected to be a transition from ground fog to
low stratus overtime with small diurnal changes. If you are
looking for warmer temperatures and sunshine, it is advised to
head above the inversions into the mountains.

The pattern begins to change late next week. The ridge shifts
farther west over the Pacific leading to a north to south upper
level flow. This is expected to bring cooler temperatures and a
20-30 percent chance of snow or wintry mix for later part of
next week. /sb

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAFs: Strong subsidence inversions over the region have
resulted in little to no change in valley fog producing VLIFR
to IFR conditons for nearly all terminals within the valleys of
North Idaho, Northern Washington, and Cascade river valleys.
Slow expansion is expected into the Western Columbia Basin and
along the Hwy 2 corridor between Airway Heights and Grand
Coulee, with 40% chance to slowly work toward Ritzville and
Pullman 7-13Z. Forecast going forward continues to come with
low confidence. A weak front will bring increasing northerly
winds. Likely not strong enough to erode the low clouds but
disrupt the current flow pattern allowing subtle improvements on
Thursday. For example, the easterly winds at KGEG are drawing
low stratus from KSFF into the airport creating persistent vis
at 1/16 mile. This will likely improve some once the east wind
ceases. Greatest probabilities for some clearing with the northerly
winds will be KOMK and KCQV.


FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS:
There is high confidence that fog and stratus with conditions
ranging from IFR to VLIFR impacting KEAT/KSFF/KCOE/KGEG and
moderate confidence for the fog to expand east and south into
KMWH and KPUW. There is low confidence when fog may lift to low
stratus or transition toward visibility closer to 1SM. There is
high confidence that KPUW/KLWS continued VFR through 06z then
confidence decreases as this easterly gradient wanes and low-
level moisture approaches from the west. /sb

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

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        28  34  26  38  24  39 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Coeur d`Alene  30  36  25  39  24  40 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Pullman        31  43  29  41  27  41 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Lewiston       33  37  31  41  29  43 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Colville       29  36  24  41  23  41 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Sandpoint      29  35  27  39  25  38 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Kellogg        31  41  28  41  26  43 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Moses Lake     29  38  26  41  25  41 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Wenatchee      34  39  31  43  30  43 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Omak           31  42  28  41  27  40 /   0   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Air Stagnation Advisory until 10 AM PST Friday for Central
     Chelan County-Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-
     Okanogan Valley-Wenatchee Area-Western Chelan County-
     Western Okanogan County.
     Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM PST Thursday for Northeast
     Mountains-Spokane Area.
ID...Air Stagnation Advisory until 10 AM PST Friday for Central
     Panhandle Mountains-Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties-
     Lewiston Area-Northern Panhandle.
     Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM PST Thursday for Coeur d`Alene
     Area-Northern Panhandle.

&&

$$