Light snow? Heavy snow? Arctic winds? Weather service predicts big changes for next week

Light snow. Heavy snow. Arctic cold. The National Weather Service in Spokane is forecasting that any or all three could drift into the region during the next week.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in this forecast,” National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Brown said during a weather briefing on Wednesday about the big changes expected in the coming days. “There’s a wide range of possibilities.”

Three big weather scenarios could affect Spokane, the Idaho panhandle and the Cascades beginning on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service’s digital modeling. Each scenario has about an equal likelihood of occurring.

In the first scenario, there could be a few inches of snow Sunday through Wednesday with seasonal temperatures of highs in the 20s and lows in the teens and 20s.

In the second scenario, heavy snow on Monday and Tuesday is possible, followed by colder temperatures with highs in the teens and lows below zero on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the third scenario, light weekend snow, followed by temperatures with highs between zero and 10 degrees and lows of zero to 15 below could be expected.

Social media posts made the rounds earlier this week, displaying a bleak forecast of lower than 20 below zero for Dec. 22, Brown said.

“Yes, there’s a potential for being that cold, but is it a realistic potential? I’m not sure,” he said.

The cold weather could hit the entire region, but the snow will likely hit hardest in North Idaho and the Cascades, meteorologist Miranda Cote said.

The Spokane metro area will likely see a low temperature between 7 below zero and 12 degrees above zero, according to the weather service’s current model. The same model showed a low temperature in Colville between 14 below zero and 9 degrees above zero.

The strongest likelihood is about 3 inches of snow in Spokane and 4- 10 inches across North Idaho. However, a 25% chance of about 7 inches of snow also could be expected for Spokane and a foot or more across North Idaho.

About a half-inch to 2 inches fell in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday morning, Cote said.

Despite the frigid weather outlook, no records are expected to be broken through next week, Brown said.

There are no advisories in place, but that could change. The National Weather Service will hold another briefing on Friday as the weather patterns further develop.

“What I understand is that this is a very dynamic system,” Brown said. “It’s very warm – unseasonably warm in Alaska and the north Pacific – resulting in a very dynamic pattern in the Lower 48. It’s going to transition in the next week or so.”