Sizzling heat returns today

Hot temperatures move into the Inland Northwest today as a Pacific high pressure system creates the classic scenario for sizzling August weather. As the higher air pressure moves from coastal regions inland through Thursday it is expected to bring sunny skies and highs in the middle to upper 90s with some of the region’s hotter locations going into the triple digits. Highs today should reach 96 in downtown Spokane, 93 at Spokane International Airport, 94 in Spokane Valley, 93 in Post Falls and 92 in Coeur d’Alene. A heat advisory was issued for the lower Columbia Basin where temperatures in the Tri-Cities should reach 100 degrees today. Even hotter weather is expected on Thursday with temperatures rising by about 4 degrees over today’s highs. A weak push of marine air will help moderate temperatures by a few degrees on Friday, and bring a return to temperatures in the middle and upper 80s over the weekend. A few clouds may interrupt the generally clear weather on Friday and Saturday evenings. Highs should rebound by a few degrees on Monday and Tuesday to the upper 80s to 90 as the summer weather continues. There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms across portions of the region over the weekend as a low pressure system moving into Canada helps draw moist air northward from the southwest. That moisture may only move as far north as the central Idaho Panhandle and southeast Washington, the National Weather Service said this morning. On Tuesday, the airport saw a high of 90 degrees. The average high for this time of year is 83 in Spokane with 55 for a low overnight. Temperatures at 7 a.m. were 63 at the airport and Coeur d’Alene, 55 at Sandpoint, 57 at Deer Park and 65 at Pullman.