It could be a wild weekend, weatherwise

An inch or more of rain and wind gusts of 45-50 mph are coming toward the Inland Northwest in the strongest storm of the autumn season.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory from 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday for Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and nearby locations.

National Weather Service forecasters said the wind is strong enough to bring down some limbs and trees, which could knock out power in isolated areas, but nothing as serious as last year’s November windstorm with gusts of 70 mph.

In Western Washington and Oregon, a series of warnings and watches have been posted for high winds, stormy seas, heavy rain and potential flooding.

Cliff Mass, a University of Washington atmospheric scientist, said in his popular Weather Blog Tuesday that the Puget Sound region should brace for “a true monster storm, potentially as strong as the most powerful storm in NW history (the Columbus Day Storm of 1962)” on Saturday. The storm will start with wind gusts to 55 mph on Thursday, with sustained winds even higher on Saturday, he said.

In the Inland Northwest, many lower-elevation areas should see an inch or more of rainfall through Friday night with more expected starting on Saturday.

“We have a pretty good moisture feed pointed at the Northwest,” said forecaster Andrew Kalin of the National Weather Service.

Storms should extend well into next week.

Snow is likely on the higher mountain peaks.

In Spokane, daytime highs will be in the middle to upper 50s with lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s.