A forecast to be thankful for
Holiday weekend calls for cold but mostly dry conditions
Thanksgiving travelers face little threat of rain or snow in the forecast through Sunday.
About the only travel risks are a slight chance of snow or rain in the mountains Thursday night, including at Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90. A chance of patchy fog enters the forecast Sunday night.
“Through the weekend, there’s a dry forecast for Spokane and Coeur d’Alene,” said Jeremy Wolf, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Spokane.
“Even in the mountains, any precipitation would be very, very light,” Wolf said.
The forecast in the Spokane area for the next several days calls for a mix of sun and clouds with highs near 40 and lows at night in the upper 20s to near freezing. Coeur d’Alene should see highs in the mid-40s during the day with lows in the upper 20s to near freezing.
Stronger high pressure could re-establish itself over the weekend, increasing the risk for stagnant air and worsening air pollution.
On Tuesday, the air was moderately polluted in Spokane but good in Coeur d’Alene.
Indoor wood burning was allowed.
The region will likely also experience “strengthening inversions.”
A temperature inversion occurs when cold night air doesn’t warm enough during the day to mix with milder air above it.
That lack of mixing is reinforced by a downward momentum typical of high-pressure air masses.
Air is normally warmer near the surface and colder aloft.