From tonight until Wednesday night, the prevailing weather pattern will be influenced by a trough at upper levels situated over the Pacific Northwest. This will bring temperatures close to normal and mostly dry conditions across a significant portion of the forecast area. The reason for this change is the arrival of a cooler and drier air mass, which is in contrast to the hot, moist, and unstable conditions observed last week that were conducive to daily convection.

As of this afternoon, skies are mostly clear to partly cloudy in the lower elevations, while the Cascades, Blues, and Wallowas regions experience partly cloudy conditions. There is a slight possibility of a shower occurring in far eastern Wallowa County, particularly near Summit Ridge and Salt Creek Summit.

During the extended period, the weather conditions are marked by an initial presence of an upper-level trough on Thursday. However, this trough will be replaced by temporary ridging before another weather system moves in from the coast as we progress into the weekend. Consequently, this shift will result in locally gusty winds and the potential development of thunderstorms in the afternoon, primarily over the weekend. Moreover, the temperatures are anticipated to be higher than average throughout the weekend, with Friday expected to be the warmest day. On Friday, temperatures are forecasted to reach the mid to upper 80s, which is approximately 10 degrees above the normal range.

Mike McCabe

The KIMA/KEPR Forecast Team