April sunshine pushes 60-degree mark today

The kind of spring weather that makes people want to go outdoors is in store for today, although the cool side of April is not giving up easily, forecasters said. Highs of about 60 degrees are forecast for today and Friday in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, but today’s sunny skies should give way to a weak cold front on Friday with increasing clouds. It should remain dry. Rain is not expected in the valley areas of the region on Friday. The weekend looks like it will be very spring-like with a high of about 62 in Spokane on Saturday. The real warm up, advertised by computer forecast models over the past several days, will not get going until Sunday when a high of 70 is expected. In fact, forecasters have damped down their expectations for warming with highs now expected in the middle 70s on Monday and Tuesday. Previously, they had called for highs on Tuesday in the low 80s. This morning’s forecast calls for a high of 76 on Tuesday. Wednesday’s high in Spokane was 56. At 7 a.m. today, temperatures across the region were in the low to middle 30s, including Spokane International Airport at 37, Coeur d’Alene at 35, Pullman at 34, Sandpoint at 32 and Deer Park at 34. Cheney was the cold spot at 27.