Weather extremes balance out somewhere else
There are never any one-sided extremes in weather. If weather conditions place one part of the country into the deep freeze, you can bet that opposite conditions are occurring elsewhere across the United States.
During this past summer, you couldn’t buy a raindrop across the Inland Northwest, as each month brought less than half of its average rainfall. It made matters worse that average rainfall amounts were pretty meager to begin with. Meanwhile, record flooding was occurring in Texas and Oklahoma, where many locations saw more rainfall in a matter of days than what we normally see all year.
Most recently in the first week of October, we saw our warm, dry summer pattern turn cold and wet. High temperatures in parts of North Idaho didn’t even make it out of the 40s on a few days, and some of the higher elevations saw their first snows. Welcome rains soaked the region. In contrast, however, areas in the Midwest were facing a late-season scorcher. On Sunday organizers at the Chicago Marathon had to shut down the course midway through the race due to excessive heat and humidity. A record high temperature of 88 degrees was recorded, beating the old record of 84 degrees set back in 1979. Nearly a quarter of the registered runners chose not to participate, and one person died after collapsing during the race. Though normal high temperatures in the Chicago area are only in the mid-60s this time of year, afternoon temps climbed into the upper 80s for three consecutive days, Oct. 6 to 8. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Omaha, Neb. saw highs in the mid 80s in that same period, while in St. Louis and Indianapolis readings soared into the lower 90s. Locations in the Northeast have also seen unseasonably warm weather in the past week, with highs in the mid-80s in places like Pittsburgh and New York City.
Across North Idaho, Mother Nature treated us to one nice balmy day on Tuesday as temperatures climbed into the 70s. A record-setting 81 degrees was recorded in Plummer. The warmth was short-lived though. On the bright side, cool nights have brought out the beautiful fall colors across the region. Peak color is already occurring across the state, and if you have a chance to take a scenic drive through the southern half of Idaho, the Forest Service recommends the Sawtooth Scenic Byway or Highway 75 through Ketchum. In our neck of the woods, the Forest Service reports that the colors are quite spectacular along Priest Lake with deep red cedars atop the orange and yellow underbrush.
According to the latest report from the Climate Prediction Center, cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures are persisting across the equatorial Pacific, meaning we are now in a La Niña pattern. La Niña is expected to strengthen into the first part of 2008. Typically, La Niña brings wetter fall weather across the Pacific Northwest. If we do indeed see higher than normal rainfall, it will be beneficial in bringing up annual rainfall totals closer to normal. Coeur d’Alene is currently about 2 1/2 inches below normal in precipitation for 2007, with Spokane being in an even bigger deficit with year-to-date rainfall running over 3 inches below normal. We have seen just under an inch of rain in Coeur d’Alene so far this month, with an annual total of just over 15 inches. This is in stark contrast to the soggy conditions from this time last year, when already 22 inches of rain had been recorded.