Weekend weather: Summer heat will be short-lived

Thursday’s sudden return to summertime heat will be short-lived as a new low pressure system and Pacific cold front are expected to sweep away the hot conditions by Friday.

Some of the hot air is being generated from a sprawling high pressure system over the Sun Belt states.

That warmth is migrating northward, drawn to the region in part by an approaching Pacific low pressure area.

Highs on Thursday could reach the lower 90s in many parts of the region.

Downtown Spokane and much of the Spokane urban area can expect 93 degrees for a high.

Coeur d’Alene may see 90 degrees.

Other parts of North Idaho will be in the mid-to-upper 80s. Sandpoint should get to 85 on Thursday.

The Columbia Basin should see lower 90s.

A fast-moving cold front will sweep across the region overnight on Thursday, creating a chance of thunderstorms and rainfall in the wee hours of Friday.

Rainfall amounts should be light – less than one-tenth of an inch in Spokane – with higher amounts beneath thunderstorms.

Passage of the cold front will kick up southwest winds at 10 to 15 mph in Spokane, with gusts to 21 mph on Friday.

Highs should be around 80 degrees on Friday.

“The low pressure system will kick east Friday night and Saturday, putting the region in a westerly zonal flow that looks to last well into next week,” according to a National Weather Service forecast discussion on Wednesday.

Temperatures will quickly rebound, going from about 82 in Spokane on Saturday to 87 on Sunday, with temperatures remaining in the upper 80s through the middle of next week.

The region has now reached what statistically is the warmest part of the year with the normal high in Spokane at 85 and the normal low at 57.

The hottest part of the year statistically lasts for about two weeks based on long-term weather records.