Rain-snow mix may change to all snow tonight

A mix of rain and snow may change to all snow tonight, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters late this morning issued a hazardous weather outlook for the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas as well as rural areas of Northeast Washington and North Idaho for periods of moderate to heavy snow tonight. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Palouse region, Blue Mountains of southeast Washington, and the Idaho central Panhandle area from eastern Kootenai County and Shoshone County southward to the Camas Prairie. In those areas, up to 6 inches of snow could fall at elevations above 2,500 feet. Overnight rain turned into snow this morning in some areas of the Inland Northwest. Snow was beginning to stick on the ground in Coeur d’Alene just after dawn. But the snow also is expected to give way to rain again today, with a high near 43 forecast in Spokane. Precipitation today is forecast at 70 percent, the National Weather Service said. Tonight the wet weather could turn snowy again after 10 p.m. The rain-snow mix will persist into Wednesday morning, forecasters say. Wednesday’s high is projected to be near 41 in Spokane, with the chance of precipitation dropping to 30 percent. Wet weather will continue through the week, with the likelihood of snow increasing as overnight temperatures drop closer to the weekend. Any accumulations should be light. Forecasters said that winter is not quite finished. A computer forecast model is forseeing the chance of a snow storm early next week. But a warm front that passed through the region on Monday brought mild temperatures. Pullman had a record high of 55 degrees, which eclipsed the previous daily high of 53 in 1971. At 8 a.m., it was 33 at Spokane International Airport, Pullman and Deer Park, 36 at Felts Field and 34 in Coeur d’Alene.