Snowy surprise greeted Spokane on Friday morning

If you stepped onto your front porch this morning, there’s a good chance you were surprised by some substantial snowfall.

Miranda Cote, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the official snowfall between midnight and 11 a.m. this morning was 3.9 inches recorded just north of the Spokane International Airport. Before midnight, Cote said that they received 0.1 inches of snow, bringing the snow total to 4 inches for March 13.

Closer to the Hayden Lake area, Steven Van Horn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said they’ve had reports of up to eight inches of snow. North of Spokane, in the Deer Park area, Van Horn said they recorded five to seven inches, depending on the area.

“It will continue to snow through the afternoon into the evening.” Van Horn said.

He said folks can expect the snow to stop either late tonight or early Saturday morning. But between now and midnight, Cote said Spokanites can expect another one to three inches of snowfall. Areas above 2,000 feet in elevation can expect more.

Cote said that even though the day is still young, it’s a daily record for snowfall. Previously, the record for most snow on March 13 was 3.4 inches in 2020. 

Cote said Seattle’s National Weather Service reported that Snoqualmie Pass received 20 inches of snow overnight, which could make driving over the pass hazardous. 

Van Horn said the snow should start rapidly melting Saturday, as the temperatures are expected to reach the mid-40s. 

In some of these areas that will pick up pretty significant amount of snow, it might stick around for a couple of days,” Van Horn said. “It might not melt completely until like Sunday, definitely by Monday.”

To start the week, Monday is supposed to be in the 50s, while the following day is forecasted to reach the low 60s. 

“As you go further south, onto the Palouse, we start to see snow transitioning to rain down there,” Van Horn said. “And so there is some concern for flooding problems.”