Sunny skies warm region

High near 70 possible today before cooling Wednesday

Tue., April 7, 2009

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

I-90 closures

SEATTLE – If spring weather has you feeling restless, you’re not alone – it’s doing the same to the snowpack in the Washington Cascades.

Rising temperatures have boosted the danger of snowslides, and Interstate 90 was closed to westbound traffic from about 12:30 to 1:50 p.m. Monday for avalanche control, west of Snoqualmie Pass. State road crews say the artillery blasts brought down some snow, but none of it reached the road.

On Sunday, two of the three westbound lanes were closed for more than five hours because of the avalanche danger a mile west of the summit, and the backup extended for 18 miles. Eastbound traffic was not affected.

Associated Press

Just days after seeing several inches of snow, the Spokane region on Monday broke the 60-degree mark for the first time since last October.

Sunny skies are expected again today with highs reaching the upper 60s across the Inland Northwest before a slow cool-down starts Wednesday.

But don’t worry. Weather later this week should be halfway decent compared with the 3.8 inches of snow last Thursday morning and the high of 40 on Friday.

“We’ll be pushing 70,” forecaster Kerry Jones said of the Spokane forecast for today. “It’s been a pretty welcome and deserved warm-up.”

The last time it got above 70 was Oct. 2.

Cooler weather is expected later this week through the weekend from a series of weak weather disturbances, but highs should remain in the 50s with chances of isolated thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Jones said that snow later this week will be confined to elevations above 4,000 feet, while rain in the lower elevations probably won’t exceed a tenth of an inch. Last week’s snowfall brought the season’s total to 97.7 inches at Spokane International Airport, the most since snowfall records started in 1893 in Spokane.

Snowpacks on Monday in Kootenai, Shoshone and Bonner counties in North Idaho were at 93 percent of normal, along with Pend Oreille County in Washington. But mountains in Okanogan, Ferry and Stevens counties of Washington are at 69 percent of normal.

Hydrologists predict a moderate drought in Okanogan County, and irrigation restrictions are expected along the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers, which provide water for fruit crops and agriculture.

The five-day period starting Saturday calls for below-normal temperatures and trace amounts of precipitation. The normal for this time of year in Spokane is a high of 55 and low of 34.