A couple inches of snow expected by morning in Spokane

The last few weeks felt like spring, but Spokane got a winter wake-up call Friday afternoon.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Spokane estimate between 2 and 3 inches of snow will fall on the city Friday into Saturday morning.

The wintry precipitation began Friday afternoon.

The bulk of the snow will fall overnight and taper on Saturday morning. The remainder of the day will be breezy, with gusts approaching 40 mph.

The wind picked up on Friday. A gust of 45 mph was recorded near Sandpoint about 6 p.m., said Mark Turner, a National Weather Service forecaster

Snow that fell in the afternoon mostly did not stick to roads, but that will change as the temperature drops, Turner said.

The West Plains could see between 2 and 3 inches of snow, while the region’s mountains could be blanketed in more. Mount Spokane is expected to receive between 4 and 8 of fresh powder overnight plus maybe an inch or 2 more during the day, Turner said.

Prior to Friday’s snow, the Spokane International Airport had measured 40.9 inches of snow so far this winter, just shy of the typical 41.9 inches.

The next few nights are expected to remain quite cold, with low temperatures in the teens to single digits. But by the time the work week rolls around, daytime highs are expected to return to the 40s.

Jonathan Brunt contributed to this report.