Wet weekend ahead

A wet weekend is shaping up across the Inland Northwest as a Pacific low spins clouds and moisture toward the region from warm subtropical waters. Sunday may be the rainiest of the next two days with a 100 percent chance of precipitation in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas, forecasters said. The weather on Saturday may bring a break between one storm that’s due overnight tonight and another storm due in on Saturday after 11 p.m. Mild air in the Pacific flow was apparent this morning with temperatures in the 50s at many locations. The low is going to send waves of moisture periodically through Monday. For today, forecasters are calling for a 50 percent chance of rain with clouds and a high of 67 in Spokane. Temperatures will cool into the lower 60s on Saturday and Sunday. Forecasters said they expect rain amounts of a quarter to a half inch on Saturday. Sunday should see another tenth to half inch, depending on location, forecasters said. Mountain areas to the northeast of Spokane may see the highest rain amounts as the Pacific storm runs into a cold low pressure area dropping south out of the Canadian plains. The 24-hour period ending this morning saw nearly 0.80 inches of rain in places such as Priest Lake and Sagle in North Idaho while Spokane saw amounts of about 0.05 inches. Areas of Montana along the east side of the spine of the Rockies have a winter weather advisory for elevations above 5,500 feet. To the west, the mild air set a record in Moses Lake where the low temperature on Thursday was 57 degrees breaking the previous mark of 56 in 2002. Records have been kept there since 1947. Drier weather and sun are not likely until Tuesday and Wednesday, and highs won’t reach 70 until next Thursday.