A Mother’s Day gift: sunshine

Just in time for Mother’s Day, forecasters are calling for warmer weather and more sunshine. The rain and showers that dampened the region over the past week are going to hold off for the most part until Monday when the next Pacific low pressure system is expected to arrive. Not everyone is in the clear today. The National Weather Service said that residual instability in the atmosphere could trigger thunderstorms across the northern mountain areas closer to the Canadian border where small hail and brief heavy rain are possible. Mountain tops in the Idaho Panhandle mountains could see snow showers today and tonight as well. Highs today are forecast at 58 degrees in Spokane and 57 in Coeur d’Alene with lows tonight in the middle to upper 30s. Temperatures should warm to the lower 60s on Saturday with showers possible after 11 a.m. across the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene urban areas. Real barbecue weather arrives on Mother’s Day with sunshine and highs in the upper 60s to low 70s across the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas. Areas to the north and the Panhandle mountains east of Coeur d’Alene should see more clouds, and there is a chance of showers in the Kellogg area on Sunday. Areas to the south and west of Spokane should generally see more sun and temperatures that are a notch warmer, in a pattern typically for this time of year. Lows over the weekend are expected to range from the upper 30s to lower 40s. The chance of showers across much of the region will be in the 10 to 20 percent range through Sunday, and if showers occur, they would likely come in the afternoon and early evenings, forecasters said. Temperatures at 7 a.m. today were mostly in the upper 30s to lower 40s across the region, but a few exposed locations dropped below freezing, including a place known as Chamokane in Stevens County northwest of Suncrest.