Heavy rain brings flooding advisory for Spokane and Coeur d’Alene

A day of steady, sometimes heavy rain prompted the Spokane office of the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory for Spokane and Kootenai counties Thursday evening.

Spokane got 0.37 of an inch of rain between 2 and 5 p.m. while 0.31 of an inch was reported near Coeur d’Alene, forcing drivers to cope with areas of flooded roads during the evening commute.

Rivers and streams are also running higher than normal.

In the 24 hours before 5 p.m. Thursday, the Spokane International Airport got 0.55 of an inch of rain, and the Coeur d’Alene Airport reported 0.56 of an inch, said National Weather Service forecaster Joey Clevenger.

Areas farther north got even more rain, with Deer Park reporting 0.68 of an inch.

“It has been a wet October,” he said.

Before Thursday, Spokane was having its fifth wettest October ever, with 3.28 inches of rain, but Thursday’s totals will be enough to bump that up to fourth place at 3.83 inches, Clevenger said.

The record of 5.41 inches was set in 1947.

The rain was expected to taper off Thursday evening and the flood advisory was expected to expire.

However, there could still be problems in areas that have poor drainage or are low-lying.