Cooler, then warming again
Showers, thunderstorms possible through Sunday
Another hot summer day baked the Inland Northwest on Friday, increasing the risk for a major wildfire.
The high temperature was 96 degrees at the Spokane International Airport, the city’s official weather measuring station.
Highs in the middle and upper 90s were recorded throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho, except downtown Spokane where unofficial reports estimated temperatures as high as 100 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, the record high for Friday’s date in Spokane was 99 degrees, recorded in 1929.
The average temperature for this time of year is about 80 degrees.
A low pressure system was expected to move into the region Friday night and cool things down for the weekend, forecasters said, bringing a chance of showers and thunderstorms through Sunday.
The system is picking up moisture left over from tropical storm Ignacio and moving it north into the region, forecasters said.
Temperatures today should drop to the upper 70s, but rebound to the lower to mid-80s on Sunday. The risk of showers and thunderstorms is forecast to be 40 percent to 60 percent across the region.
A 20 percent chance of showers was expected Friday night.
A red-flag warning was posted for Friday for high fire danger across Northeast Washington, North Idaho and the upper Columbia Basin. Forecasters expect a heightened potential for extreme fire behavior.
Improving weather is expected next week, with sun and warm temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s.