Weather experts anticipate overnight freeze
Frost could damage tender plants
Tue., May 12, 2009
The National Weather Service on Monday issued a freeze watch for tonight in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas as well as the Columbia Basin north of Connell and most of the Palouse.
Unseasonably cold weather with a chance of showers and blustery winds today will give way to a rainstorm Wednesday night before a warm-up this weekend.
Highs on Sunday should be well into the 70s, forecasters said in a conference call.
“This weekend is shaping up to be pretty warm,” forecaster Kerry Jones said, “and I mean a big warm-up.”
But first, freezing weather could damage sensitive foliage and plants, including tomatoes, fruit crops and bedding plants. Forecasters suggested bringing tomatoes and tender annuals indoors or covering them.
Lows in Spokane tonight and early Wednesday should stay at 30 degrees for several hours. Lows of 29 are forecast for Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Pullman.
The average date of the last overnight freeze in Spokane is May 4; for Pullman, it’s May 12.
The cold weather will result from an upper-level low pressure system that crossed the region Monday. Spokane International Airport reported sustained winds at 28 mph and gusts to 32 mph about 1 p.m.
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