The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
37°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Weathercatch: We’re halfway through 2023, so here’s a look at the weather year so far

Haus, a hunting dog, swims after some ducks that kept a paddling pace just fast enough that the hound could not quite match it in May at Boulder Beach. After about 10 minutes, Haus got tuckered out and returned to his dog-walking caretaker on the beach. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Nic Loyd and Linda Weiford For The Spokesman-Review

We’re exactly halfway through 2023, and Spokane is experiencing a warm, dry year so far. Overall, temperatures have been above normal and precipitation below normal.

Fittingly, we’ll start with January 2023.

If you’re thinking the month was snowy and bitter cold, that was in December, with its subzero temperatures before Christmas and above-average snowfall. Then came a mild January, especially during the first two weeks, when highs ran above freezing and sometimes even the overnight lows hovered above freezing. Snow that had consistently covered the ground during December melted by Jan. 15. The first month of 2023 concluded with a total of only 6.1 inches of snowfall, which is under half of January’s average amount of 12.7 inches.

The relatively mild and dry pattern continued through the first three weeks of February. The high temperature on Feb. 20 climbed to 48 degrees, compared to the average temperature of 40 degrees for that date. Suddenly, the seesaw came crashing down with a high of 16 degrees on Feb. 23 and a low of 3 degrees on Feb. 24. Additionally, most of the month’s snow fell during its last three days, including 4.4 inches on Feb. 28. Even with the big weather change, we still crossed February’s finish line with slightly above-average temperatures and slightly below-average snowfall for that month.

Ironically, we saw more snowfall than normal when we least expected it – springtime. Measurable snow fell on seven days in March, which included a storm that dropped 4.3 inches on March 10. The month ended with 9.1 inches of snowfall, compared to the normal value of 3.6 inches. April was snowier as well, with four days of snow showers and flurries bringing the month’s total to 3.1 inches, compared to the normal 0.6 inches.

Of the six-month period, May was the biggest standout, but not because it snowed. Far from it.

Instead, Spokane saw its warmest May since the National Weather service began recording temperatures in 1881. Although the weather was cold enough to produce measurable snowfall on April 21, the mercury hit 85 degrees on May 2 and again on May 3. The month went on to have nine consecutive days (May 13-21) when temperatures ran at least 10 degrees warmer than normal, with several days approaching 20 degrees above normal. Daily records were broken with a high of 88 degrees on May 19 and a high of 90 on May 20. Also, the month broke four records for the highest overnight low temperatures recorded during May.

June ran warmer than usual as well, with slightly less precipitation. June 7 hit 91 degrees in Spokane, which remains the highest temperature of the year so far. Had it not been for the downpours that occurred on June 8 that dropped as much as half an inch of rain in the Spokane region, June would have been considerably dryer.

Now that it’s July, the second half of 2023 is off to a warm, dry start. Temperatures are expected to ramp up Thursday and Friday into the mid-90s and run in the low 90s through this weekend and into next week.

Nic Loyd is a meteorologist in Washington state. Linda Weiford is a writer in Moscow, Idaho, who’s also a weather geek.