Fire Weather Watch

...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...

.One wave of showers and thunderstorms will track south to north through central Washington Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This activity will be a mix of wet and dry thunderstorms with scattered lightning strikes. Rainfall amounts between a trace and a tenth of an inch. As this activity drifts north of Highway 2 Thursday morning, lightning activity is expected to become isolated with rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch. Thunderstorms are expected to redevelop Thursday afternoon and early evening. Coverage will be isolated to scattered. A few storms could be strong during this time with frequent lightning and hail. Gusty outflow winds and new fire starts will be a concern with any thunderstorms from Wednesday night through Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a Fire Weather Watch for thunderstorms, which is in effect from late tonight through Thursday evening.

* Affected Area: East Portion of North Cascades National Park/Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Zone 697), East Washington North Cascades (Zone 698), Okanogan Highlands and Kettle Mountains (Zone 699), Colville Reservation (Zone 702), Okanogan Valley (Zone 703) and Methow Valley (Zone 704).

* Thunderstorms: Isolated thunderstorms Thursday morning with rainfall amounts less than tenth of an inch. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and early evening. Mix of wet and dry thunderstorms some which could produce hail and gusty outflow winds.

* Outflow Winds: Outflow winds Thursday morning up to 30 mph. Outflow winds Thursday afternoon near thunderstorms up to 50 mph.

* Impacts: New fire starts from lightning. New fires could be impacted by gusty outflow winds.