Cooler today, showers coming by Thursday night

Cool, dry air is evident this morning as an upper-level low pressure system keeps summer warmth pushed well to the south of the Inland Northwest. Highs today will be struggling to get to the lower 70s across the region. Downtown Spokane should see 71 while Coeur d’Alene may get to 72. Southwest winds should be light. Similar temperatures are likely Thursday as well. The low along the Pacific Northwest is strong enough that forecasters expect it to generate clouds and rain showers starting Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning. Chances of showers by Friday will be 40 percent in Spokane and 50 percent in Coeur d’Alene with highs in the upper 60s. The storm pattern will favor higher precipitation chances near the mountains of North Idaho and Northeast Washington with the chance of lingering showers in those locations through Sunday, but only at a 20 percent chance after Friday night. Lower chances of precipitation are expected to the west. Lake Roosevelt west of Spokane has a 30 percent chance of showers on Friday and then turning partly sunny by Saturday with highs in the upper 70s with Monday’s high reaching the lower 80s. Spokane should dry out by Saturday night and then see temperatures rise from the middle 70s Saturday and Sunday to upper 70s by Monday. Lows through the period will drop to the upper 40s tonight and then rebound to the lower 50s. Mountain areas of the region, including Coeur d’Alene, are expected to clear out by Monday as well. National Weather Service forecasters said Monday will easily be the nicest day in the three-day holiday, and should signal the start of a summer warm up that could result in highs going into the lower 90s next week. At 7 a.m. today, it was 50 at Spokane International Airport, compared with 60 at the same time on Tuesday. Elsewhere, it was 54 at Felts Field, 52 in Coeur d’Alene, 49 in Deer Park and 50 in Pullman.