Inland NW gets break in storms

The Inland Northwest is due for an extended break in its recent rounds of stormy weather as higher air pressure envelopes the region along with colder temperatures.

Travel conditions should be good Thursday and Friday with sunny skies and highs in the lower 30s in Spokane.

Lows will be in the teens.

North to northeast winds are expected to ease up on Thanksgiving Day, but the modified arctic air that came with the winds will remain over the region.

The wind chill effect on the skin could make the air feel as cold as a few degrees above zero early Thursday, forecasters said.

A deep temperature inversion is going to take over as the weekend progresses.

Warmer air aloft is going to trap moist, polluted air near the ground, creating conditions that are ripe for patchy freezing fog and smoke pollution.

Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday continue with highs in the low 30s under mostly sunshine and lows in the teens.

The extended dry spell could continue next week, forecasters said.

That will prevent mountain ski areas from receiving the snow they need to open. Schweitzer Mountain Resort was expected to have limited terrain open by this weekend.

Dry winter weather is consistent with the anticipated influence of El Nino, which is the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can affect Inland Northwest winter weather.

Typically, conditions are drier and milder than normal during El Nino.

In past El Ninos, Spokane has received an average of 35.4 inches of snow in those years, which is 73 percent of normal snowfall for a season.

Coeur d’Alene averaged 44.4 inches during El Nino years, or 86 percent of normal snowfall.