What you need to know about Monday’s storm

SPOKANE, Wash.– A strong storm will plow across the Inland Northwest on Sunday night and Monday, creating treacherous travel conditions and even some falling trees and power outages. Here are each of the pieces of this storm and how they’ll impact you on Monday.

Wind

A High Wind Warning is in effect from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Wenatchee, Moses Lake, and Yakima in the west to Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Moscow, and Lewiston in the east. A High Wind Warning means wind gusts will be strong enough to cause blowing dust and dangerous visibility on area roads, falling trees and tree limbs, and power outages. In addition to these hazards, anyone planning on burning during these high winds is asking for that fire to get out of control. Avoid it!

Winds will increase overnight, reaching gusts over 40 mph as early as 8 a.m. Monday morning. Winds will ratchet up in intensity through lunchtime and into the afternoon around Spokane. Isolated gusts of 50 to 60 mph are possible which will likely cause some damage where they appear. It will remain gusty, but not at a severe level on Monday night and Tuesday.

Any loose items like trash cans and lawn furniture needs to get put away. Keep your phone charged and check on the state of your flashlight batteries in case the power goes out.

Snow

Heavy mountain snow will come with this system, snarling travel through the mountains Sunday night through Monday and Tuesday. Heavy snow up to 3 feet is possible in parts of the Cascades with up to 2 feet over Snoqualmie Pass. Lookout Pass and the mountains of North Idaho will see lower snow totals, but should still pick up a foot or slightly more accumulation by the end of Tuesday. Be ready to change your travel plans in case any passes close in the next two days; or start a new plan now.

Rain and Thunder

The heaviest rain with this storm will come on Monday between midnight and lunchtime. Around midday thunderstorms are possible again with some small hail. Even though the winds will still be howling, it’s likely the sun will come out by the afternoon in many areas.

After the storm

Cooler weather will take over during the middle of the week, including the possibility of some snow flurries in a few valleys on Tuesday morning. Morning temperatures will be in the upper 20s and low 30s through Wednesday, so have any plants you’ve put out covered again. We’ll warm up quickly later in the week with high 60s in the forecast on Thursday and Friday.