Temperatures fall under clear morning sky

Cold winter-like temperatures returned to the Inland Northwest overnight as skies cleared in the wake of a light snow storm on Monday evening. National Weather Service forecasters said the colder air is coming from a high pressure area over British Columbia, but the air flow is not connected to an arctic air mass. As a result, temperatures under sunny skies today will rebound into the lower 30s with lows tonight in the middle 20s. At 7 a.m., it was 15 at Spokane International Airport, 22 at Felts Field, 19 in Coeur d’Alene, 13 at Deer Park and 26 in Pullman. A full moon provided an awesome sight at dawn this morning as it set in the northwest just hours before reaching its maximum fullness around 1:20 p.m. The moon rises around sunset tonight in the northeast. Thursday’s daylight hours should be relatively quiet for weather. A weak storm system is expected on Thursday night and Friday, and will pull milder air ahead of it from the southwest. As a result, the region could see snow changing to freezing rain and rain on Friday in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas. The weekend should range from mostly cloudy to partly sunny with highs near 40 and lows near 30. Flood waters in North Idaho continue to recede today even as the Spokane River increases its flow through Spokane and over the thunderous falls. The river was flowing at 21,100 cubic feet per second this morning, an increase of 4,000 cfs since Tuesday afternoon.