City expected to get break from rainfall; another storm due

Spokane residents will get a break today from recent rains, and they’d better enjoy it, according to the National Weather Service. Wednesday is expected to bring another wet weather system across Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Measurable rainfall was recorded 9 of the first 15 days of May, said weather service forecaster Matt Fugazzi.

The rain may be keeping lawns green, but it isn’t doing much for the region’s water shortage.

“We still are in a drought situation because what we needed was a heavier mountain snowpack,” Fugazzi said. “That would have been our reservoir that we would have tapped into during the warmer months.

“This rain isn’t doing any good if it simply runs off into the river basins.”

Since the first of the year, 5.98 inches of perception has been measured at Spokane International Airport, still below the normal level of 6.96.