Weather

The city of Spokane called a Stage 1 Snow Emergency today, requiring cars to be moved from all arterials and Spokane Transit Authority fixed bus routes within six hours, or by 6:30 this evening.

The holiday snowfall is far from over. Several more inches are expected to pile up today through Saturday, the National Weather Service says. Sunday will bring a break from the weather, but snow could return Monday or Tuesday.

Wednesday’s frigid cold broke records in several smaller cities across the Inland Northwest, but forecasters say temperatures should continue to climb out of the sub-zero and single digits this weekend even as snow continues falling. Cities setting new record lows include Pullman and Moscow, where the National Weather Service reported an overnight low Wednesday of minus 10, breaking the previous record of minus 9 set in 1985. The coldest was Ephrata, Wash., where the overnight low of minus 14 broke the 1985 record of minus 10. The minus 6 in Omak, Wash., beat the 1993 record of 2 degrees.

Early this week, our first major snow was seen across the Inland Northwest. After today, we’ll pass the Thanksgiving holiday and be heading toward Christmas. The big question I’m starting to hear is, “Are we going to have a white Christmas?” As mentioned in previous articles, the La Niña cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event in the south-central Pacific Ocean continues to maintain its strength. During the last La Niña event, our region saw record snowfalls. By contrast, during El Niño years, we typically see milder winter seasons with more rain than snow falling in the lower elevations, as was the case last winter.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service shows that nearly a foot of new snow is likely to fall in the Spokane metropolitan area from Thursday into Saturday.

Meanwhile out in the sticks...

Among the road closures this morning because of zero visibility and/or blowing snow are: Highway 27 (Spokane and Whitman counties), Highway 21 (Lind to Wilbur) and Highway 261 (Interstate 90 to Highway 26).

Blizzard? Where?

Snow showers are being reported around the Inland Northwest this morning as temperatures cool with a flow of weather from the north.

A second wave of snowfall is expected over Eastern Washington late tonight and early Thursday during the morning commute, forecasters said this afternoon.

That vile white stuff hits Spokane...

Since late summer, I’ve been talking about the new La Niña, the cooler-than-normal sea-surface temperature along the equatorial regions. During the winter of 2009-’10, we had an El Niño, the warmer sea-surface temperature, which resulted in less snow for our region. During the record-breaking snowy winters of 2007-’08 and 2008-’09, we were influenced by La Niña and little sunspot activity.

Wind in the wake of today's early morning snowfall is giving the Spokane region a distinct wintry feel even as wet snow melts from grassy surfaces around the area.

The next in a series of winter storms is going to bring rain to lower elevations and up to a foot or more of snow to the mountains of the Inland Northwest tonight, but an arctic flow is looking more likely this weekend through Wednesday, forecasters said today.

The National Weather Service has posted a wind advisory for the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas tonight for gusts approaching 40 mph.

Snow has been taken out of the forecast for the rest of the week, while rainfall is expected in Spokane from about 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight.