Winter storm set to blow into Spokane this evening

Wed., Feb. 3, 2016

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

A new snowstorm is expected to arrive in the Inland Northwest Wednesday evening with 1 to 3 inches expected in Spokane and surrounding areas through early Thursday.

Coeur d’Alene could see 2 to 4 inches of snow.

The National Weather Service today posted a winter weather advisory starting at 4 p.m. and continuing through 4 a.m. on Thursday.

The snow is likely to cover roadways through morning hours, but a high of 39 on Thursday should ease traction problems on roads in lower elevations.

Mountain areas should see higher accumulations.

A second storm on Friday is expected to bring lowland rain and mountain snow along withwind.

Over the weekend into early next week, a strong system of higher air pressure is likely to move onshore and shut off the storms.

Forecasters are now calling for partly sunny skies during daytime hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Highs in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene should be in the low 40s with lows in the 30s through Sunday and likely beyond that.

The incoming snowstorm will boost snowfall totals for the season to near normal in Spokane. So far, 32.4 inches of snow has fallen at Spokane International Airport this season, which is about 2 inches shy of normal through Feb. 2.

The only significant snowfall in Spokane last month came on Jan. 16 when 2.7 inches of snow fell. Every other snowfall was an inch or less. The monthly total was 6.7 inches of new snow compared with 24.1 inches of snow in December.

More precipitation in January came as rain. The month ended with 2.74 inches of precipitation, which was nearly an inch above normal for the month, and the December snowpack melted off.

Also, the average temperature was 1.5 degrees above normal in January.

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