Weekend weather
A few days of fine summer weather without sweltering heat are in store for parts of the Inland Northwest, but showers and thunderstorms are likely later in the weekend.
Highs are expected to be mainly in the 80s through Saturday in the Spokane area.
North Idaho should be a little on the cool side for late July with highs in the 70s. Upper mountain areas should see highs in the 60s.
Breezy conditions are likely during the afternoons.
A cold front Saturday afternoon is expected to bring a weather change with southwest wind gusts to 30 mph possible in some locations and an increasing risk of strong thunderstorms over Northeast Washington and North Idaho, according to the National Weather Service.
The chances of precipitation rise to 50 to 60 percent on Sunday over much of the region with highs in the middle 70s in Spokane on Sunday, which is 10 degrees below normal, forecasters said.
Until then, most of the region will stay under summer’s spell.
Today starts out mostly sunny and warm with highs in the 80s in the Spokane region.
A weak low pressure system in recent days put the brakes on the heat, bringing down temperatures to near normal.
A transitory ridge of higher air pressure is expected to arrive from the Pacific coast today, bringing a warm up to the middle and upper 80s by Friday and Saturday in the Spokane region.
Lows at night should be in the upper 50s to lower 60s.
Around the region, the Lake Roosevelt area should see highs in the 80s, and then a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms on Sunday. Southwest winds could be a problem for boaters on Saturday with gusts to 25 mph.
Winds could be a problem on other lakes with gusts reaching 24 mph on Lake Coeur d’Alene and 26 mph on Moses Lake on Saturday.
On the Kettle Crest mountains, highs should be in the upper 60s before the cold front brings a 30 percent chance of storms Saturday and a 60 percent chance on Sunday along with a drop in temperatures.
The Inland Northwest has now reached the time of year when average temperatures are at their warmest. The average high in Spokane is 85 and the average low is 57.