Lots of Weather from a Dry Cold Front

Fall fronts are usually lacking moisture around these parts. But just because there’s not much if any rain doesn’t mean there isn’t any weather. 

The front will move through the area tonight (Saturday night). Some folks may get a sprinkle but not much more that that. Skies will clear by late morning as the wind picks up, which will peak in the late afternoon. 

It’s worth noting that we don’t expect a repeat of the thunderstorms from Wednesday afternoon. Instead, very dry air will move in behind the front. This will lower the humidity, which combined with the wind will create critical fire weather conditions. The NWS has already issued a Red Flag Warning for most areas.  Please be careful on Sunday and don’t do anything that could potentially start a fire. Without the arrival of fall rains, our fuels are extremely dry right now. 

Winds will gust in excess of 30 mph during the afternoon.  Some computer forecasts have winds gusting to 35 or even 40 mph.  Blowing dust is possible in the Basin and Palouse.

Once all of the action on Sunday afternoon settles down, we’ll have the last of the weather effects from this front: hard freeze. Many valley locations in northeast Washington and the Idaho panhandle will drop into the upper or even mid 20s by Monday morning.  This would also include locations along Highway 2 in the Basin. Tuesday morning will also be cold. The NWS has already issued a freeze watch for the coldest locations.

As for rain chances, there’s not a lot of hope in the near future. Perhaps something by the end of next week but any rain that does fall should be light.