Sunshine in the 80s today

Near perfect summer weather is forecast for the Inland Northwest with highs near their seasonal normal in the lower to middle 80s. The chance of thunderstorms and showers, including heavy downpours, enters the forecast on Tuesday. The only thing that could interrupt the beauty of today’s weather is the risk of wind gusts near 20 mph through this evening. For today, National Weather Service forecasters are calling for highs of 84 in downtown Spokane and 82 in Spokane Valley, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. The average high today in Spokane is 84. A strong Pacific frontal system was moving onshore along the Olympic Mountains coastline this morning west of Seattle, leaving the Inland Northwest dry through today. But as the low pressure area moves inland across Canada, it’s energy could trigger thunderstorms and showers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Heavy downpours are possible in some locations. The main energy should be concentrated across the Columbia Basin into Spokane, Waterville Plateau, the Okanogan area and mountains of Northeast Washington and North Idaho. High temperatures have moderated since the run of 90-degree-plus weather through mid-week last week, and forecasters do not expect the extreme heat to return in the forseeable future. Meteorologist John Livingston said the cooler weather and wetter weather will reduce the risk of forest fires. Highs through the rest of this week should be in the 80s through Tuesday and falling to the 70s for the rest of the week. Mostly cloudy conditions are expected starting Tuesday. At 7 a.m., temperatures were mild with 60 at Spokane International Airport, 64 at Coeur d’Alene, 53 at Deer Park, 54 at Sandpoint and 57 at Pullman.