It’s been a long, dry spell in the Inland Northwest

There has been so little rain in the Inland Northwest since the beginning of August that many locales have broken records, according to the National Weather Service. Since the beginning of August through Oct. 10, only 0.13 inches of rain have fallen in Spokane. The previous record was 0.18 inches, set in 1991. Record-keeping goes back to 1881. Records for dryness also were set in Pullman, Moscow, Colville, Ephrata, Kellogg, Northport, Lewiston, Omak and St. Maries, the weather service said. The stretch of consecutive days without rain also is notable: Pullman has gone 82 days without measurable precipitation, breaking the 78-day record set in 1987. In Quincy, there has been no measurable precipitation since Aug. 1, but that record has been set twice before, in 1952 and 1987, the weather service said.