Warmth and wind conjure spring, but winter’s making a comeback

Springlike weather made a blustery debut Monday, but winter could be returning as early as tonight.

Temperatures, which reached 47 degrees Monday in parts of the Inland Northwest, are expected to drop again this evening, bringing rain mixed with snow overnight, according to the National Weather Service. The remainder of the week should remain chilly but noticeably drier.

Monday’s heavy gusts, which reached 46 mph in Spokane and 48 mph in Coeur d’Alene, also were above average. The strongest January wind gust last year was 30 mph.

Despite the heavy winds, fire departments and street crews said they had few reports of downed trees and power lines. Spokane County’s public works department responded to only a couple of felled trees, both of which were small.

Meanwhile, Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass reopened at 10 a.m. Monday after being closed by avalanches about 5: 30 p.m. Sunday, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the Washington Department of Transportation. The pass has received more than 40 inches of snow in the last week.

The pass was bare and wet Monday night, but up to 26 inches of new snow is possible through Wednesday morning, according the Washington Department of Transportation’s Web site.

All other Washington mountain passes were open as of Monday afternoon.

West Side snarls

Meanwhile, mudslides snarled rail traffic and flood warnings were issued for a handful of Western Washington rivers after a weekend of heavy rain soaked the state.

No injuries were reported.

A mudslide Monday afternoon north of Mukilteo halted freight rail traffic for about four hours between Seattle and points north, BNSF Railway spokesman Gus Melonas said. Sounder commuter train traffic north of Seattle, as well as Amtrak service, were already shut down as a result of slides Sunday night.

The new 60-foot-long slide was cleared by 4 p.m. Monday, allowing freight traffic to pass, Melonas said.

Passenger train traffic cannot resume until 48 hours after a slide.

Earlier this month, Olympia set a record with 35 consecutive days of measurable rainfall, two days more than the old mark set in 1953, and Seattle came within six days of its rainy-day record of 27, also set in 1953.