Weekend weather: Spokane’s soggy spring returns in time for the weekend

After several dry days, Spokane’s soggy spring returns in time for the weekend.

March came to an end as the second wettest on record with 4.11 inches of rain through the month.

April got off to a dry start, but that was merely a break until the next storm swings ashore with more rain and continued showers over the next several days, forecasters said.

The incoming storm will bring mild air initially with highs of 62 on Thursday and 59 on Friday.

Showers on Thursday are expected to give way to the main body of the storm and soaking rain on Friday.

National Weather Service forecasters are calling for a one-quarter to one-half inch of rain on Friday in Spokane.

Cooler air arrives over the weekend to keep showers going through Sunday. Cold air aloft might also bring snow into any showers on Sunday morning.

Highs on Saturday and Sunday will drop back to the lower 50s in Spokane. Lows through the period should be in the 30s.

Rain will fall at higher elevations through Friday and then change to snow by Saturday and Sunday to keep winter recreation going.

The rain could cause river levels to rise and continue the risk of floods and landslides.

Snowpack in the mountains in Northeast Washington and North Idaho remains at 100 percent of normal despite rain and milder temperatures at lower elevations.

April 1 is typically the time when the water content of the snowpack reaches its greatest amount.

North Central Washington has a snowpack of 120 percent of normal. The Cascades are also full of snow at 111 to 139 percent of normal, with the higher amounts in the southern Cascades.

Elsewhere in the region, the central Idaho mountains have snowpacks as great as 175 percent of normal. The Blue Mountains near Lewiston and Walla Walla are at 106 percent of normal.

The snowpack numbers bode well for good water supplies in coming months – a benefit to growers, fish stocks and hydropower generation.

But the heavier snowpacks may delay trips into higher elevations this spring and summer.