871
FXUS66 KPDT 021143
AFDPDT

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
343 AM PST Mon Feb 2 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Weak warm front today

- High pressure returns Tuesday through Friday

- Likely pattern change by the weekend

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Today, a weak warm frontal passage will cause snow levels to
rise above mountain pass levels through the day. Prior to snow
levels rising, light snow (trace to 2 inches) is forecast for
the Washington Cascades. Outside of the Yakima and Kittitas
valleys and northern Blue Mountains, measurable precipitation
is not anticipated east of the Cascades.

Tuesday through Friday, ensemble clusters all show some flavor
of an anomalously strong upper-level ridge over the Pacific
Northwest. This pattern favors air stagnation, lowland stratus
and fog, and warm mountain temperatures. Have included a mention
of patchy fog in the gridded forecast through Thursday morning
since confidence is high (80 percent) that there will be at
least periods of fog in the Columbia Basin and surrounding
lowlands. Also worth a mention, should widespread fog and
stratus materialize, afternoon high temperatures will almost
certainly fail to reach the NBM`s optimistically warm values for
areas affected by fog/stratus. Moreover, the NBM`s cloud cover
forecast is showing mostly SCT-BKN skies in the lowlands, but
OVC conditions are more representative of what is typically
observed in this pattern.

By next weekend, ensemble clusters show good potential for a
return to an active winter pattern, though with ensemble
membership at roughly a 60:40 split between a wetter troughing
pattern and a drier ridging pattern, confidence in forecast
details is low.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/...Aside from IFR CIGs
this morning at DLS, anticipating VFR conditions as we await the
arrival of a weak warm front later this morning. CIGs will
lower later this morning through afternoon as the front crosses
the region, though precipitation will be limited; temporary -RA
is forecast at YKM, while ALW/PSC have PROB30 groups included.
Elsewhere, did not include a mention of precipitation at
DLS/PDT, with only 10-20 percent chances of -RA forecast.

Unless FG manages to form this morning at RDM (confidence too
low to include in the TAF), BDN/RDM will remain VFR through the
period with only FEW to SCT mid- and high-level cloud.

Sustained winds will be mostly light at 10 kts or less.

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
PDT  36  51  33  50 /  10   0   0   0
ALW  38  50  36  51 /  10   0   0   0
PSC  33  50  34  50 /  10   0   0   0
YKM  33  49  34  50 /  10   0   0   0
HRI  34  50  34  49 /  10   0   0   0
ELN  33  44  33  46 /  20   0   0   0
RDM  28  58  27  58 /   0   0   0   0
LGD  34  55  36  54 /  10   0   0   0
GCD  32  57  33  57 /   0   0   0   0
DLS  37  52  37  50 /  10   0   0   0

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...None.
OR...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...86
AVIATION...86