SPOKANE, Wash. — Strong thunderstorm potential highlights the main weather hazard for those in southeastern Washington and central Idaho this Friday afternoon.
A few isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop around 5pm over the Blue Mountains in southeastern Washington and/or northeastern Oregon and start traveling east and northeastward. This puts locations like Pullman, Lewiston, Grangeville, and Orofino as the most likely to see a thunderstorm nearby this evening.
Our modeling of these storms, while consistent, has been limited in term of how many storms there will ultimately be. Basically, two or three total thunderstorms will be all the atmosphere will produce for the region. Definitely not a widespread storm event.
The Storm Prediction Center, which oversees severe thunderstorm forecasting nation-wide, has placed central Idaho under a "Marginal Risk" for severe weather. This means there is a reasonable chance for strong winds or hail from any of the thunderstorms that pop up today.
For context, while "Marginal Risk" is just a level 1 out of 5 in terms of severity, this is a nation-wide scale where the level 5, "High Risk" means a tornado outbreak is likely... something we will never see in the Inland Northwest. We've only once ever had a level 3, "Enhanced Risk", but typically we'll only ever see the level 1 or 2 risks ("Marginal" or "Slight").
Locations closer to Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, and north of I-90 not only are too far north to see thunderstorms today, but the likelihood for rain at least is extremely low.
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