Sunshine warms Inland Northwest today

Today should be the nicest day of the work week with mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 60s. A new Pacific storm is headed toward the Inland Northwest on Tuesday and is all but certain to bring rain. National Weather Service forecasters are calling for a 50 percent chance of rain tonight, a 90 percent chance on Tuesday and another 50 percent chance on Tuesday night. Winds could pick up with the cold front. Gusts on Tuesday night and Wednesday could reach 24 mph. Snow is possible on the peaks of the mountains in the region beginning on Tuesday. Showers are likely to continue over the mountains for much of the week. Higher air pressure is currently over the region, bringing the milder spring weather, but a low pressure system is approaching the coast today and is expected to arrive sometime tonight. Spokane has had .85 inches of rain so far this month, which is slightly below normal of about an inch through Sunday. The high Sunday in Spokane was 56. Today’s highs should be at least 10 degrees warmer than Sunday, forecasters said. At 7 a.m., it was 38 at Spokane International Airport and in downtown Spokane, 36 in Coeur d’Alene, 40 in Deer Park and 42 in Pullman.