March continues with showers, clouds

The last official week of winter will bring weather typical of March. Forecasters are calling for scattered showers and mostly cloudy skies with a high near 49 in Spokane. The normal high for today is 48 degrees in Spokane. Gusty south winds are expected. The chance of rain showers is 50 percent today Spring officially begins on Sunday at 4:21 p.m. The National Weather Service reported 0.19 inches of rain on Sunday bringing the season total since Oct. 1 to 12.9 inches, or 3.37 inches more than normal. Another rain storm is expected on Tuesday with a high near 50. Snow is expected in the mountains above 3,000 to 4,000 feet. “We are going to see a fair amount of rain come through,” said forecaster Jeremy Wolf of the weather service in Spokane. He said instability behind a Tuesday cold front could trigger some isolated thunderstorms. A chance of rain stays in the forecast through the week, but drops to 30 percent probability by Thursday and Friday. Snow is possible overnight on Thursday when lows drop below freezing. Through the week, highs should be near 50 with lows in the 30s. Higher air pressure is going to build well offshore causing the jet stream to dive southward along the coast and carry storms into California later this week. However, the Inland Northwest will stay on the cool and showery side of the jet stream, said Wolf. At 7 a.m., it was 37 at Spokane International Airport, Felts Field and Coeur d’Alene and 36 in Deer Park and Pullman.