High winds expected over weekend

Winds gusting to 48 mph in Spokane and up to 60 mph in other Inland Northwest locations are expected starting early Saturday and continuing until dawn on Sunday. Coeur d’Alene may see wind gusts to 55 mph on Saturday. Sustained winds will be from 24 to 29 mph in Spokane and 25 to 31 mph in Coeur d’Alene. The National Weather Service this afternoon issued a high wind watch for the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area, the upper Columbia Basin, the Palouse, southeast Washington and the central Idaho Panhandle. The watch is in effect from 1 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. The winds have the potential to down trees and large limbs, causing power outages. Large vehicles may have trouble on the roads. The winds are arriving with a strong Pacific rain storm that will bring milder temperatures starting on Friday. Highs will reach the upper 30s and lower 40s through Monday with lows in the lower 30s. Snow levels are expected to rise to higher elevations in the mountains - 4,000 feet near the Canadian border to 7,000 feet in the Central Panhandle - before coming back down by Saturday night. Heavy mountain snow is possible as the snow level rises and again when the snow level drops back down in elevation, forecasters said. The storm subsides by Monday.