Holiday travel conditions fair

Weather over the Thanksgiving holiday continues to be mostly favorable for travelers, with the next Pacific weather system holding off until Thursday night and Friday. A warm front today should give drivers over the mountain passes a break. Highs in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas should stay in the lower to middle 40s through Friday, then drop to the upper 30s over the weekend. Snow levels are expected to rise to 5,000 feet in northeast Washington and North Idaho through Thursday night. Snow showers and clouds are expected in the mountains over the weekend. The next storm system is forecast to arrive Thursday night and bring rain to the lower elevations and mountain areas initially with snow levels falling Friday night and Saturday. Snoqualmie Pass could see snow Friday night and into Saturday. Fog is possible in the valleys during periods of calmer weather across the Columbia Basin and Spokane area, but it is not expected to be a widespread problem, said meteorologist John Livingston, of the National Weather Service. Travelers on Sunday should see fairly good driving conditions as a high-pressure system decreases the risk of rain or snow to most areas of the region. Snow showers are expected Sunday at Snoqualmie Pass. Forecasters said their computer models were unclear about how much precipitation the system would bring to the Inland Northwest on Thursday night and Friday. Forecasters are calling for a 40 percent chance of rain Thursday night and a 60 percent chance of rain Friday in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. Mountain passes are likely to see snow or snow showers Saturday and Sunday. Major accumulations of snow are not expected Sunday. Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90 was bare and wet Tuesday. In Idaho, the Fourth of July Summit and Lookout Pass had slush on the roadways.