Lingering high pressure ridging continued dominating western north america Sunday...resulting in more widespread sunny dry conditions with daytime temp- eratures locally reaching 10 to 20 degrees above normal. This morning freezing levels ranged between 12100 feet at quillayute...to 13800 feet at boise.

Both west and east of the cascades there were some local sharpening snowmelt rises mixed amongst mostly minor but building snowmelt forced rises continuing in the vicinity of an ever decreasing number of headwaters still maintaining decent higher elevation snowpacks. Elsewhere recessions dominated the region.

Tuesday receding high pressure ridging nonetheless continues mostly dry warm conditions across the region...with daytime temperatures reaching 11 to 20 degrees above normal. This warming is forecast to trigger some scattered early period light convective showers clipping mainly just our southern tier. An approaching Pacific trough then forces ridging eastward by Wednesday. As this trough shifts into the region...it also scoops up some lingering moisture stal- led out over northern California from a previously dissipated cut-off low. This moisture trains northeastward up across the sawtooth mountains into northwestern Montana Thursday-Friday. Along this track expect some occasional mostly light day 4-5 scattered rain and rain showers. This pattern change drives daytime temperatures down to near normal values Thursday-Friday...but transient dry ridging building in across the region ends the period with temperatures climbing back up to slightly above normal values.

Sunday a transient dry ridge starts getting eroded from the west as approaching unsettled Pacific weather starts clipping our northwestern tier. Monday to tues- day this unsettled pattern shifts pockets of some rain essentially across the remainder of our forecast area as a trough gradually deepens across the west. Look for temperatures to gradually settle toward near normal values as the period progresses.