After a record-high start to the holiday season, prepare for ‘winter-weather mode’ in the Inland Northwest

Prepare for winter weather starting this weekend after the Inland Northwest experienced record-breaking high temperatures earlier this week, forecasters say.

Laurie Nisbet, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Spokane, said a small weather system might produce light snow Saturday morning in the Spokane area.

Don’t anticipate snow to fall downtown, Nisbet said, but the West Plains could see one-half inch, Deer Park might get 1 inch, Colville 2 inches and North Idaho, such as Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint, could see 3 inches.

Any morning snow in the Spokane area should melt off in the afternoon, with a high temperature of 42.

Highs will be in the low- to mid-30s Sunday through Tuesday, and lows will dip into the mid-20s and even down to 17 Monday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Nisbet said the region will get a break from precipitation Saturday night and Sunday before snow hits almost all of Eastern Washington and North Idaho Monday.

“It’s a little bit of a bigger deal just because it’s the first real snow for a lot of places this season, and it’s coming during the morning commute,” Nisbet said.

Nisbet said Spokane and Coeur d’Alene could receive 2 to 4 inches, and Pullman could see upward of 5 inches Monday. The snowy weather could even extend to Lewiston, she said.

She recommended leaving for work a few minutes early and getting up earlier to blow or shovel snow.

“You need to start getting in the mindset of winter weather,” Nisbet said.

After another break Monday night and Tuesday, a system is expected to produce snow Wednesday. Nisbet said people should expect to see light rounds of snow continue to fall late next week and into next weekend.

“We will be in winter-weather mode,” she said.