Late heat wave broke record
As of early Tuesday, the weather pattern across the Inland Northwest was changing from very hot and dry to increasing rain and much cooler temperatures.
Until early this week, thunderstorm activity had been scattered from the Spokane Valley eastward through North Idaho into Western Montana.
The Spokane area, especially near the airport and areas to the west, was bone dry with only traces of moisture since the last measurable rain – .24 inches – on June 21, nearly two full months ago. The storm Monday night dropped only .06 inches of moisture at the airport with just a few hundredths of an inch of rain in parts of the Columbia Basin.
There were periods of thunderstorm activity earlier this summer in the Coeur d’Alene area, too, but the rains only gauged a still-below-normal 1.25 inches since June 21. More than 2 inches of precipitation has fallen to the south of Coeur d’Alene this summer. The moisture that fell in July hurt the cherry crop, causing some of the fruit to split.
From Aug. 11 through 18, the region has observed some of the hottest temperatures of the summer. On Sunday, the temperature at the Spokane International Airport climbed to a record 103 degrees. That temperature was also the warmest reading ever for so late in the season. The previous record was 103 degrees, set on Aug. 10, 1898. Coeur d’Alene also reported a record 103 degrees on Sunday.
The long-range outlook for Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, suggests a few scattered showers, especially in the Spokane Valley eastward into North Idaho, will be possible at times with a bit cooler-than-normal temperatures.
There’s also the chance this shower activity will also occur at the beginning of the last holiday of the summer and Sunday and Monday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, will turn both drier and warmer again.
By late September and early October, conditions in the Inland Northwest should turn wet. Then, it will turn drier than normal. The upcoming fall season will likely see a back-and-forth weather pattern of cool and wet to mild and dry.