White Christmas? Stop dreaming

Spokane’s white Christmas drought is coming to an end.

With snow predicted throughout the weekend and an updated forecast showing cooler temperatures than originally projected, National Weather Service meteorologist Rocco Pelatti now believes Christmas Day across the region will be a “picture-perfect, snow-globe type of deal.”

It would end Spokane’s seven-year string of celebrating Dec. 25 with little or no snow. Snowflakes also are expected to fall on Coeur d’Alene and other parts of North Idaho on Monday.

Pelatti said weather patterns heading into the weekend have been erratic. But as of Friday morning, he believed Spokane could expect 2 inches to 4 inches of snow on Saturday, followed by another 1 inch to 3 inches beginning Sunday night and continuing into Monday morning.

He said forecasts show highs of 31 degrees today, 32 degrees Sunday and 35 degrees Christmas Day, though he said the prediction for Monday may change to a lower temperature.

Skiers can expect an additional 4 inches to 6 inches of snow in the mountains going into the weekend, Pelatti said.

A snowboarder with a season pass at Mount Spokane, Pelatti said he doesn’t hesitate to use his meteorological insight to select which days he hits the slopes. But this year, he’ll be working through the Christmas snows.

“So I doubt I’ll be able to go up there, but I’d like to,” he said.

Meteorologist Ron Miller said he encounters two main schools of thought on what constitutes a true white Christmas. Many people feel that a solid blanket of snow on the ground is enough, he said. But others want snow to be falling on Dec. 25.

Miller said the last time Spokane went into Christmas Day with snow on the ground and then had additional snowfall during the day was in 1998.

“That was the last good white Christmas, I’d have to say, that we’ve had around in Spokane,” he said.

There has been a little white since then, but not enough to satisfy most people, Miller said. In 2004, there were a few flurries on Christmas Day that didn’t stick. And in 2001, 2 inches was measured at the airport, but it didn’t last long.

Last year, he said, Spokane got close with 5 inches falling on Dec. 21. But the storm was followed by warm winds, and the temperature was up to 52 degrees by Christmas Eve.

Coeur d’Alene has fared better for the holiday, Coeur d’Alene climatologist Cliff Harris said. At about 250 feet higher than Spokane, Coeur d’Alene managed to hang on to an inch of snow last year.

In 2003 and 2001, the city by the lake got about an inch of snow. And in 1999, 3 inches fell, Harris said.

The Coeur d’Alene visitor’s bureau lists the city’s elevation at 2,152 feet. The Spokane International Airport lists downtown Spokane’s elevation at 1,898 feet.

Pelatti said the snow this time around won’t likely include high winds, and he expects the temperature to stay low enough to let snow accumulate through the weekend.

“It looks ideal in terms of a kid that wants to play in it,” he said.