Weather Impact Alert: Chance for thunderstorms return Monday night

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:03]Well folks, thanks so much for joining us here on Creme 2. I'm Jenny Power and right now we are under a weather impact alert. It's time to really break down what's happening weatherwise and this is going to be in a longer form here for all the folks that are interested and curious about the conditions that we're seeing here because we've got some big changes that arrive this evening. We're under a weather impact alert here because of this incoming cold front that's going to usher in the chances for some thunderstorms and for some parts of the region here. We could even potentially being some seeing some severe isolated thunderstorm activity.

[00:00:35]Some of the biggest threats with this are going to be some gusty winds, small hail possible, as well as scattered to frequent lightning. So, let's kind of break down and take an overall look at what's happening weatherwise. It's still for the most part on this Monday and this Memorial Day going to be warm and breezy. Daytime highs. I mean, we're talking in the 80s. So, it's going to feel almost summerlike out there for the day today. But, it's by this evening, really late afternoon, early evening, that we start to usher in these changes and the threat here of some of these isolated thunderstorms, severe even for some folks over in North Idaho and the Montana area, which we'll get to in just a moment. But this incoming system, it is also going to usher in a weather pattern change for in general this upcoming week as we're going to start to trend much more cooler as well as hang on to an unsettled weather pattern. So, let's kind of break down what's happening weatherwise as we take a look at our convective outlook. All these areas that are shaded in green here have the slight chances of the threat of some thunderstorms. However, the chances are greater where we're seeing on our uh Storm Prediction Center map here a marginal threat of those thunderstorms for North Idaho as well as into western Montana. So, really just what this means is we've got a greater chance of seeing some of these more severe storms popping up in this darker green shaded area.

[00:01:50]Yet, it's still possible through the areas that are shaded in green period.

[00:01:54]So, the lighter green impacting eastern Washington there. This is going to be a big heads up here to the folks that maybe are traveling here a little bit later on. You were gone for a long extended Memorial Day weekend, but then you do plan on being out on the roadways late afternoon into early evening. Some of our best chances of seeing these isolated storms are going to be popping up after 3:00 p.m. Really 3 to 900 p.m.

[00:02:17]is where we could be seeing some of these isolated storms at with it. I mean, we could be seeing hail here near uh either a P-sized or even potentially nickel sized over in North Idaho.

[00:02:28]Scattered to frequent lightning, gusty outflow winds, and heavy downpour rain.

[00:02:32]So, timing of this, this is about 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. where we're starting to see some showers up in the North Idaho panhandle as well as toward central Washington, Wanachi there, Moses Lake.

[00:02:42]heading into the rest of this evening, 900 p.m., we start to see some of these storms firing up, especially along the Montana Idaho border and up in the North Idaho panhandle. So, with this, know that we could see some of that small to medium-sized hail as hail could potentially be near a nickel sized. We could also see that scattered to frequent lightning, heavier downpour rain, and gusty outflow winds near 50 mph. So, this is going to be impacting us as we head overnight tonight as this system moves up from the south. It will continue to track further north. But here's 10:30 p.m. when we're really starting to then see those storms firing up in the North Idaho panhandle and northwest Montana. But again, because eastern Washington was still in the light green shaded area on the Storm Prediction Center map, we in Spokane do have the slight threat of seeing some of that storm activity. By tomorrow morning, we'll be waking up to some drier conditions, but it won't last long as we still see the chance here for some showers moving in by Tuesday afternoon and the chance here for some more storms firing up in western Montana Tuesday afternoon as well. Now, the other layer to this is on top of the storms that we're preparing to see here for this evening, today is also going to be pretty breezy. We had a couple of breezy afternoons this past Saturday and Sunday, but today our winds are really going to start to ramp up here. 15 to 25 miles per hour sustained, but gusts in Spokane could be upwards of 30 miles per hour. And even some local areas have the potential of seeing gusts near 50 miles hour. Again, in those isolated storms where we've got those gusty outflow winds, but also over toward central Washington where we actually have a wind advisory in place for the Yakama Valley and then south of that dipping down into northern Oregon. It's also that time of year, folks, where when we are seeing these elevated winds, we run the risk of some uh elevated fire risk where things could be spread rapidly in dry grasses.

[00:04:37]Also, a note with the winds today, we could be seeing some choppy lakes and rivers, especially if you maybe plan on doing some kayaking or some fishing.

[00:04:45]Take note of that as the winds are going to really ramp up here uh from this early afternoon into this evening.

[00:04:52]Daytime highs and the temperatures, it is going to feel toasty out there.

[00:04:55]Daytime high in Spokane, 80 degrees, 81 for Celane. We've got some upper 70s for central Washington and even some upper 80s south to Richland and the Tri Cities. But even though our air temperatures are going to be warm and it's feeling almost summerlike, temperatures here well above our average, about 10° above our average for the Spokane area with sunset getting a little bit later and later. It's important to note that our water temperatures are still cold. So, it's going to be very important to practice some cold water safety. Make sure that you're aware that even though with the air uh temperatures being so warm, it's going to be very tempting to get into the water. The lakes and rivers have still been ranging in the 50s as far as those water temperatures go. And our currents are also running swiftly. So, wear a life jacket if you do plan to be out on our local waterways. And just know that today it's going to be pretty choppy out there, especially through some of those big open lakes. Overnight tonight, we fall here into the um mid to upper 40s. few areas are going to be in the low 50s. But the biggest reason why we're under this weather impact alert, it's because of this incoming system and the threat of some of these isolated storms. So that's why we'll remain under the weather impact alert for the day today. Those storm system moving in here later on this evening, but it's really going to usher in a more unsettled weather pattern for this upcoming week.

[00:06:13]I mean, just take a look at how much we drop on our Tuesday. Daytime high is about 20 degrees cooler, just reaching the low 60s for Spokane and still bringing with it some increasing clouds and the chance for some showers.

[00:06:24]Gradually, we start to trend a little bit warmer through Thursday. But then we see the return chances again of some storms later on Thursday night into Friday. That then is going to lead to a more unsettled end to this upcoming week. So definitely keep that in mind. A reminder for you, when thunder roars, head indoors because that's ind indicative of some of those storm systems moving through. We want everybody to be safe. And with such an active weather week here ahead of us, it' be a really good idea to download the free Creme 2 app because there you can actually take a look at our live local radar 247. You can watch as these storms are rolling in the latest for what is going to be impacting your neighborhood and your afternoon. So, make sure that you scan the QR code there. It's easy to download the free Creme 2 app on your TV or your phone to get access to that live 247 radar.