Snow, colder temps in forecast for next week

As if the cold nights and brisk days weren’t enough of a weather challenge for those without power, a new weather threat has appeared on the horizon: snow starting on Monday night.

The National Weather Service on Friday said the storm is likely to bring light to moderate accumulations of snow through Tuesday. The chance of snow is currently 70 percent. However, a high of 38 to 39 degrees on Tuesday should help break up any accumulation on roadways at lower elevations.

A computer forecast model used by the weather service pegs snowfall potential at 2 inches or more in Spokane.

In a weather discussion Friday morning, forecasters said a wave of moisture could be drawn into the middle part of the atmosphere at an elevation favoring the formation of precipitation.

“The exact placement of the convergent bands that will develop around the low center are hard to pin down this far out, but the general pattern suggests that the northeast zones will have a good chance at receiving light to moderate amounts of snow from this system,” according to Friday morning’s forecast discussion by the weather service in Spokane.

As the storm migrates off to the southeast, it will draw cold winds from the northeast starting on Wednesday. Wind chill temperatures could drop to minus 15 degrees.

Not counting the wind, lows next week could be in the teens.

Thanksgiving Day could be the coldest of the season so far with highs in the middle 20s.

For now, the Inland Northwest is under a weak area of higher air pressure that is bringing dry, cold air southward from British Columbia, but with plenty of sunshine. Lows for the next few nights should be in the low to middle 20s across the region with highs in the 30s. Temperatures should moderate a bit on Sunday and Monday with highs in the lower 40s.