Sun returns with highs in lower 90s

Mostly sunny skies return to the Inland Northwest after a late-day thunderstorm on Wednesday caused some flash flooding and gusting winds. Highs are expected to climb into the 90s again today with 94 expected in downtown Spokane and 91 in Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene. Wednesday’s high was 91 a Spokane International Airport. A southerly flow that has increased humidity will also raise the possibility of clouds across the region and maybe some thunderstorms in the mountains. But the type of storm that brought Wednesday evening’s blustery weather is not expected today or Friday, said National Weather Service forecasters. Another fast-moving low pressure area, or short wave, is expected on Friday night and Saturday as the southerly flow persists. There is a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms on Friday night. Highs on Saturday should drop to the lower to the middle 80s with a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms under partly cloudy skies. The thunderstorm threat continues at 20 percent on Sunday in Spokane with partly cloudy skies and highs in the upper 80s. In mountain areas such as Priest Lake, there is a threat of thunderstorms each day through Monday. With more clouds in the sky, temperatures should be running about 10 degrees cooler each day. A low pressure area in the upper atmosphere has anchored itself along the West Coast, which is allowing storm impulses to move northward against a continental high pressure area, forecasters said. That low should move inland over the Pacific Northwest by Monday, preventing extreme heat and bringing some clouds with highs mostly in the upper 80s. Wednesday’s storm brought flash flooding caused road washouts along state Highway 23 between Sprague and Harrington, according to a sent to the weather service. Manhole covers in Wenatchee were blown off their seats by rushing water, and flash flooding in that area caused washouts along two canyon roads. A weather spotter in the Wenatchee area reported 0.85 inches of rain during a thunderstorm, the weather service said. Winds at the Spokane airport gusted to 38 mph Wednesday evening, and the trailing edge of the storm brough 0.04 inches of rain to the airport overnight. Nearly an inch of rain fell in two hours ending at 9 p.m. near the community of Plain in Chelan County. At 7 a.m., it was 64 at the Spokane airport and in Coeur d’Alene, 66 at Felts Field, 60 at Deer Park and 61 in Colville. The region is now in the statistically hottest period of the year with the average high in Spokane at 84 and the average low at 56.