After a wet June, expect warm and dry July, August
Spring officially begins early Friday morning.
Many folks are watching the snowfall total at Spokane International Airport. As of Tuesday morning, 89.4 inches of snow has fallen for the 2008-’09 season. The record is 93.5 inches set in 1949-’50. There is still a chance of breaking that record between now and the end of April.
As I mentioned two weeks ago, the overall pattern for spring looks to be a bit wetter and cooler than normal. The average temperature for this month, as of early Tuesday, is about 7 degrees below normal levels.
June 2008 was close to normal in terms of average temperature. We were 0.6 degrees above the mean of 61.6 degrees. It was drier than average last June with 0.59 inches of rain, compared with the normal of 1.18 inches. Many of us won’t forget the traces of snow across the region in the early part of the month. On June 10, the campus of Washington State University in Pullman was blanketed with more than an inch of snow.
The late spring and early summer period looks a little better than last year. Idaho climatologist Cliff Harris and I expect this upcoming June to be both a bit warmer and wetter than normal across much of the Inland Northwest. Don’t be too surprised to see three or four days in the 90s. There will be eight to 12 days with thunderstorm activity this June, which is slightly above average.
July should bring great outdoor weather to the Inland Northwest. July 2008 was 7 degrees above average of 68.6 degrees and it was drier than normal. This July should also be slightly drier than average. There should be several days with thunderstorm activity, mainly over the mountains. We’ll likely see at least seven to 10 days with afternoon highs near or above 90 degrees, and one or two maximums near 100 degrees.
August 2008 was slightly drier with temperatures only a few tenths below the normal of 68.6 degrees. This August should see at least eight to 10 afternoons with temperatures in the 90s. As in July, there may be one or two afternoons with readings near or even above 100 degrees this August, especially sometime around the Aug. 6-13 full-moon cycle. As far as precipitation is concerned, I’m expecting less rainfall this August than usual for the 31-day period.