Weekend weather: Two drier days are expected going into the weekend

Residents of the Inland Northwest are going to get break from days of wet March weather as the weekend arrives.

Despite the milder temperatures and wet weather, the amount of snow remaining at higher elevations of Northeast Washington and North Idaho has been near normal for this time of year.

Nearly 4 inches of precipitation was reported in Spokane in March, making this the second wettest on record.

Rain showers are expected to subside on Thursday and give way to mostly sunny skies on Friday and partly sunny skies on Saturday.

Sunday should see a return to clouds and a slight chance of rain showers.

High temperatures should be running in the middle 50s with lows in the middle 30s.

The mountains should see snow showers at upper elevations on Thursday with partly sunny skies on Friday followed by a slight chance of snow showers on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday’s rain storm is going to keep the Spokane River at flood stage through early next week.

Lake Coeur d’Alene has dropped below flood stage, but should remain high into next week.

The Little Spokane River may rise to flood stage for a short period of time on Thursday before slowly subsiding.

Much of Eastern Washington and North Idaho are under flood warnings and flood watches.

Flooding of fields and low-lying areas are still a risk along with landslides, forecasters said.

Schweitzer ski area had 60 inches of snow at the lodge and 116 inches at the summit on Wednesday with 9 inches of new snow over the previous two days.

Lookout Pass ski area had 122 inches at the base and 149 inches at the summit on Wednesday. The area also reported 3 inches of new snow.

Normal temperatures in Spokane for this time of year are 53 for a high and 34 for a low.

Spokane has seen 19.1 inches of precipitation since Oct. 1 through Tuesday, which is 8.87 inches above normal.