Snow Marching Into Area Heavy Amounts Of Snow Or Rain Forecast For Monday

Azure skies, milder temperatures and the fact that the calendar says March might be a recipe for spring-like weather most years.

Not this time, said forecasters at the National Weather Service.

Cold air that’s been flowing out of the north this past week is expected to collide Sunday with a moisture-laden storm out of the North Pacific.

The result should be snow, said John Livingston, chief meteorologist for the Weather Service in Spokane.

“We’re right in the clash zone,” Livingston said.

On Friday, forecasters debated whether it will be cold enough Sunday and Monday for snow, or if the precipitation will come as rain.

Highs are expected to nudge 39 or 40 degrees during the day Sunday, with lows in the mid- to upper-20s at night.

The chance of snow sticking to lawns and pavement could depend on the time of day it falls.

“It looks like snow to me,” Livingston said.

One of the computer models used by the Weather Service in its forecasts shows heavy amounts of precipitation, possibly on Monday.

An official prediction on the amount of snow won’t be made until later today as the storm gets closer to the region.

The outlook next week calls for continued storminess with a series of low-pressure areas sweeping out of the Gulf of Alaska and Pacific Ocean.

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition.