Light rain keeps falling; wind adds chill

Rain has been more persistent today than initially expected, and now forecasters have increased rain chances from 20 percent to 50 percent this afternoon. Even so, today’s weather should be a lot drier than the soaker that covered parts of the Inland Northwest on Wednesday night. The 2 p.m. temperature was only 53 degrees, which is 8 degrees below the forecasted high of 61 and nearly 20 degrees below the normal high for today. Winds were gusting to 25 mph at Spokane International Airport. Coeur d’Alene was at 50 degrees this afternoon with the high maybe reaching 57. The Spokane airport received 0.12 inches of rain on Wednesday, but other areas saw up to a half inch of rain from the clusters of storm clouds that moved across northern parts of the region. Coeur d’Alene Airport had a quarter inch of rain and Felts Field had about a third of an inch. The low pressure area that brought the rain has moved east into Alberta, but is continuing to affect the region’s weather by drawing in cooler air. Temperatures will be on the rebound Friday with a high in Spokane of 69 and lows near 50. Those temperatures will persist through the weekend. Showers are possible again on Saturday and Sunday. Warmer weather is seen for the last day of spring on Monday with a high of 76 and the first day of summer on Tuesday with a high of 80. At 7 a.m., it was 46 at Spokane International Airport, Coeur d’Alene and Deer Park and 47 at Felts Field.