More rain coming this weekend

Batten down the hatches and keep the bailing buckets handy – the National Weather Service in Spokane is calling for another inch of rain by Tuesday.

The rain will come in a one-two punch. The first, milder system will bring about a quarter inch of rain from Saturday morning to early Sunday, forecaster Andrew Kalin said. The wetter of the two systems will arrive late Sunday or early Monday and will dump up to three-quarters of an inch of rain before it moves out of the region Tuesday morning.

There has been 3.15 inches of rain recorded so far in February at the Spokane International Airport. It has been the wettest first two weeks in February in history, Kalin said. All the moisture has led to flooding near small streams, washed-out roads and flooded basements. Stream levels should drop, but they could go up again after Monday’s rain.

“I don’t think our problems will go away, but I’m not sure if they’ll get worse,” Kalin said.

The wettest February on record saw 5.62 inches of rain in 1940. “If we get another inch this weekend, we’ll be at No. 2,” Kalin said.