Weather: Winter continues to wane

The forecast is looking good for getting outdoors over the next several days, although winter snow sports are still sketchy because of a lack of snow in nearby mountains.

Mild daytime temperatures consistent with early spring are on the way, forecasters said.

Higher air pressure along the Pacific Coast, which has created a cold northerly flow recently, is going to reposition itself over the western states, bringing pleasant outdoor weather when the sun is out.

Daytime highs will return to the 50s today in Spokane and bump up against the 60-degree mark by Sunday.

Highs in the lower 60s could arrive on Monday and Tuesday.

Abundant sunshine is expected, although some clouds are possible on Friday.

Lows will go from the teens earlier this week to the lower and middle 30s.

Mountains in the region, which were robbed of snowpack from rain and mild weather in early February, are unlikely to see any improvement in coming days.

Automated snow measurements show that only the highest elevations have water equivalents in the snowpack of 60 to 64 percent in North Idaho drainages. But the average in North Idaho is 50 percent of normal for the amount of water contained in the snow.

Western Montana is at or above normal in a number of its basins, including the Upper Clark Fork, Flathead and Bitterroot drainages.

The Columbia River above the Methow River has a snowpack of 74 percent.

The amount of water held in the snowpack is an important resource for fisheries, agriculture, hydropower and forest health. Without a healthy snowpack, forests dry sooner in the summer, creating a longer wildfire season in the mountains.

The Yakima River Basin has only 36 percent of normal water storage in its snowpack.

To the north, the Chelan, Entiat and Wenatchee drainages have 54 percent of normal snowpack storage.

It gets worse in Oregon where snowpacks are about 10 percent in the Willamette River drainages and only 2 percent in Hood River.

While the Blue Mountains in southeast Washington and northeast Oregon also have weak snowpacks, the upper elevations over much of central and southern Idaho are at 80 to 100 percent of normal snowpack.

Forecasters said there is some chance that the dry weather pattern could change later next week. However, computer models have not been consistent in showing any predictable change in the storm track.