Cooler temperatures expected to continue
For 60 days and nights, the Inland Northwest baked through one of its warmest summers on record – until Sunday.
“Aren’t you happy with this change, or do you like hot weather?” asked Jon Fox, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service office northwest of Spokane.
Highs throughout the region Sunday and Monday reached only into the mid- to upper-60s, the kind of weather that’s been largely absent since summer started June 20. Only four days have had high temperatures below 70 degrees since then, including Sunday and Monday. But 25 days this summer have had highs of 90 degrees or warmer. For an entire summer, the average number of days at 90 degrees or hotter is 19 in Spokane.
Temperatures at night have been unusually mild this summer.
One weather statistic puts this summer as the second-warmest on record. The Spokane area has had 38 days with overnight lows of 60 degrees or warmer. That compares with a record of 42 overnight lows of 60 or warmer in 1958. The warmest overnight lows this year were on July 18 and Aug. 15 when the thermometer went down only to 69 degrees.
Rainfall Sunday and Monday was generally light. Spokane International Airport measured .09 inch of rain. Coeur d’Alene had .17 inch. Larger amounts were reported at some locations, including Fairchild Air Force Base and Deer Park, both of which had about a third of an inch of rain.
More cool, wet weather is forecast for the rest of this week with rain expected Wednesday. Fox said a low-pressure system arriving Wednesday may bring higher rainfall amounts because the atmosphere over the region already is cool and cloudy.
Temperatures this week will run 10 to 15 degrees below normal for late August. The normal high for today is 81 degrees.
Despite the cooler daytime highs, temperatures at night will remain mild, going down to about 50 degrees through the week.
A return to highs of 90-plus is still possible before summer ends. The region typically sees a couple of 90-degree days in September, Fox said.