Summer weather warms region

Summer weather should prevail this week with highs nudging close to 80 degrees through Wednesday. The warmer air may help gardeners finally get some of those green tomatoes to ripen. Autumn arrives on the evening of Sept. 22. Higher air pressure has moved into the Inland Northwest this morning, replacing a pesky low pressure system that was hanging over the region for days. Forecasters this morning said they expect mostly sunny skies with highs ranging from 77 to 80 degrees in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas through Wednesday. A risk of showers arrives Wednesday night and continues through Thursday, but temperatures will remain on the mild side with highs in the middle 70s. Lows will be in the upper 40s and lower 50s. A cooling trend arrives for the weekend, but highs should reach close to 70 on Saturday and Sunday with clouds and shower chances in the 20 to 30 percent range. The high at Spokane International Airport on Sunday was 76. At 7 a.m. today, it was 52 at the airport, 48 at Felts Field, 45 in Coeur d’Alene, 42 in Deer Park and 45 in Pullman.