It’S Not Too Late To Shiver In January Change In Air Patterns Could Blow Away Mild Temperatures

Thu., Jan. 21, 1999

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

January’s statistical reputation for being the coldest and snowiest month of the year may be saved after all.

Forecasters in Spokane said a persistent flow of mild air off the Pacific Ocean shows signs of easing in the next several days.

Computer forecast models are suggesting a change to cold and snow by this weekend throughout the Inland Northwest, if not the entire Pacific Northwest.

“It’s going to feel like January,” said Don Moore, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Spokane.

“It’s possible this is a change that might last through the rest of the month,” he said.

Temperatures have been running 7 to 8 degrees above normal so far in January. As a result, only 3.6 inches of snow has been recorded at Spokane International Airport since Jan. 1, and 15.6 inches of snow so far this season.

During January, Spokane normally gets about 16 inches of snow, and 49 inches in a full season. Temperatures during January average right at freezing for the highs and 21 degrees for lows.

Now, the predicted change in the upper-level winds off the Pacific Coast is expected to draw northerly air out of western Canada as early as Saturday, Moore said.

The exact timing of the change wasn’t clear from computer models on Wednesday, but they show a lowpressure area forming off the Washington coast over the weekend.

Moore said the low has the potential for generating significant amounts of snow in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. He cautioned the prediction is coming from computers looking ahead several days. It is not an official forecast yet.

Moore said he expects colder air to follow any snowfall with temperatures dropping to about 15 degrees by Monday morning.

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