Lightning storms possible tonight, Friday

The National Weather Service today said the chance of thunderstorms returns to the Inland Northwest starting tonight and continuing into the day on Friday. A low pressure area off the northwest coast of California is starting to move toward the region and will be the trigger for a new round of lightning and rain showers. In the Spokane area, thunderstorms could arrive as early as this evening under what forecasters are calling a “classic thunder pattern.” Some of the thunderstorms could be severe, forecasters said. The remains of Hurricane Fabio are moving northward through Nevada to eastern Oregon along the periphery of the low and should add moisture to the storms, forecasters said. The threat is pegged at 30 percent tonight and 70 percent on Friday. Flash flooding is possible beneath the strongest storms, forecasters warned. A flash flood watch is in effect across the region through Friday evening. Thunderstorms will be driven in part by the arrival of a new low pressure area out of the Gulf of Alaska. As that low settles over the region it will bring a dramatic cool down. Temperatures are expected to drop into the lower 80s on Friday through Sunday and then the upper 70s on Monday. Lows, which have been in the 60s, will fall back to the upper 50s.