Weekend weather: Warm and dry for weekend plans

This summer’s yo-yo weather is heating up again in time for the weekend.

A storm that dropped rain over the region on Tuesday was expected to be well east of the region by Thursday, leading to warming conditions.

Thursday will see a warming and drying trend as a northwest steering flow develops into a high-amplitude upper ridge of higher air pressure, according to National Weather Service forecasters.

In Spokane, high temperatures should start out at 86 on Thursday and then go to 90 on Friday and 95 on Saturday.

Lows will warm back into the 60s by Friday night.

The hot daytime weather should be short-lived.

A new trough of lower air pressure should move toward the region late in the weekend, causing temperatures to fall back several degrees.

Sunday’s high should reach the upper 80s, with similar highs extending into early next week.

The mountains may be a place to escape the weekend heat. Highs should be at least 10 degrees cooler during the day, but comfortable at night with lows in the middle and upper 50s.

There is a slight chance of showers in the mountains for Sunday and Monday.

The changeable weather this summer raises the question of whether it has been hotter or colder than normal or wetter than normal.

Overall, the temperatures have been close to normal but precipitation is below normal in Spokane.

Precipitation amounts do not reflect the heavy rainfall that has come from shower and thunderstorm clouds in areas away from the official weather station at Spokane International Airport.

June was almost 3 degrees above normal, but rainfall was less than half of what would be likely.

July was less than 1 degree cooler than normal, and precipitation was less than half of normal.

August so far has been 3 degrees below normal, but precipitation on Tuesday brought rainfall up to normal for the first nine days of the month.