Cool weather to last just one day

Temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s today is providing some relief from the hot July sun, but forecasters said it won’t stay cool for long. A warm-up is in the forecast for the rest of this week with temperatures reaching the lower 90s by Friday and Saturday. At Spokane International Airport, the 1 p.m. temperature was 66 degrees. The air is much drier today at a dewpoint of 37 degrees compared with the higher humidity last week when the dewpoint went to the upper 50s and 60s. Forecasters said the high may reach the middle 70s, but that is 10 degrees below normal for late July, which is statistically the warmest part of the year. A low pressure area that brought cooler air to the region is exiting toward Canada, allowing warm air to move northward from a high pressure area centered in the desert southwestern states. Isolated thunderstorms are possible in areas near the northern mountains and Canadian border. Highs in Spokane should go to the lower 80s on Tuesday, middle 80s and Wednesday and upper 80s on Thursday, all under sunny skies. Forecasters are eyeing the possibility that a new round of monsoonal moisture could move northward this weekend. As of this afternoon, they are not expecting it to move as far north as Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.