Warm February weather ‘not uncommon’ for Inland Northwest

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow last week, meaning the country could expect below-average temperatures for the next six weeks.

But that hasn’t been the case so far – at least in the Inland Northwest.

Temperatures approached 50 degrees Thursday in Spokane, and Pullman tied its high-temperature record of 57 degrees, said Jonathan Fox, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane.

The high temperature Thursday at the Spokane International Airport was 48 – seven degrees cooler than the record . Temperatures were in the mid-60s in the Tri-Cities.

Jeremy Wolf, meteorologist at the NWS in Spokane, said the region’s fairly strong high pressure system is directing wetter systems to the north and east, providing the Inland Northwest with dry weather.

He said the area of high pressure is in the right location where the region is getting enough mixing of the atmosphere and enough wind to warm it up.

“That’s been more prevalent from Spokane down towards the Palouse and the Lower Columbia Basin,” Wolf said.

Meanwhile, low clouds settled in areas north of Spokane Thursday afternoon, resulting in temperatures in the mid-30s in some locations.

“Those areas have not benefitted from the wind and are much cooler,” Wolf said.

In Spokane, Wolf said Friday’s record high is 53 degrees, but Fox said the forecast high is 41.

Thursday’s normal high is 38 and normal low is 26, Wolf said. Thursday’s low temperature was 34 as of 7 p.m. but expected to drop to around 30. Tuesday and Wednesday’s lows at the Spokane International Airport were in the low 30s.

Highs are expected in the low-to-mid 40s through the middle of next week in the region. No precipitation is forecast during that time except for Monday, which calls for a chance of rain and snow, Wolf said.

“It’s not uncommon to get into a pattern like this,” Wolf said of the warm February temperatures.

He said little or no snow will fall by the end of next week.

“It’s a pattern where we’re just not seeing a strong storm track from the Northwest, which is what we look for this time of year to bring snow to the region,” Wolf said. “We’re getting kind of just glancing blows from systems that are going north and east of us because of that ridge of high pressure.”

He said there’s some indication the pattern could change to a wetter one at the end of the month, but that’s uncertain.

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for February, which was issued Jan. 31, called for “elevated odds” for a cooler-than-normal February in the region, Wolf said.

He said the forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center are probability based.

“It’s never a slam dunk because once you get beyond the one-to-two-week forecast timeframe, the model predictability goes downhill quite a bit,” Wolf said.