Weather

With Tuesday’s rainstorm departing the region, today’s weather should be the start of a short-term warming trend. Unfortunately, it won’t last long enough to make the Labor Day weekend a fully sunny affair.

Increasing clouds and a chance of rain is being forecast for today as an autumn-like storm moves over the Pacific Northwest from the cooler water of the North Pacific Ocean.

Another cool August day is in store for the region ahead of what may be the first chance for rain on Tuesday night as the summer season moves to an end.

Growing up in the Midwest, I experienced severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood warnings, and even tornado warnings. Not once, however, do I ever recall hearing the term red flag warning. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Thursday from the east side of the Cascades through North Idaho and into Western Montana.

Cooler temperatures and calmer winds today are helping firefighters control wildfires that flared up across Eastern Washington in Thursday's hot, gusty winds.

Forecasters say a cold front blowing through the Northwest today is bringing winds that increase the wildfire danger in Eastern Washington.

We’re less than a month away from the official start of fall; the first day of the new season is Sept. 22. Up until this point, the summer of 2010 has been warm. July’s average temperature was 0.3 degrees above normal. As of early this week, the mean temperature for August was about 2 degrees above normal.

Today is going to bring the hottest weather of the week with sun and highs in the lower 90s likely in Spokane, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.

Today and Wednesday will see the Inland Northwest returning to summer conditions, but a cold front moving onshore Thursday should change the weather dramatically, the National Weather Service said.

Summer weather should return to the Inland Northwest starting today, but forecasters are warning that a new wind storm and cooler weather are possible on Thursday.

If you are a hot weather lover, hopefully you enjoyed the past week of sunny weather with highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Currently, average highs are in the low to mid 80s, while average lows are in the mid 50s. While temperatures still may spike up into the 90-degree range through early September, chances are low we’ll see any more extended “heat waves” in the coming month.

Weather sighting...

Drier air and slightly cooler temperatures are expected across the Inland Northwest today with lots of sun and highs in the middle 80s in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

Last winter, our weather was influenced by El Niño, the warmer-than-normal sea-surface temperature in the south-central Pacific Ocean. During El Niño, we often have milder winters with less snowfall because the subtropical jet stream becomes stronger as moisture often flows along that path into California, the desert Southwest, Texas and the Deep South. This was the case last winter. Within the last month, sea-surface temperatures near the west coast of South America and along the equator have been cooling at a rapid rate.

Another hot day with temperatures in the lower 90s is being forecast by the National Weather Service before temperatures ease back to the lower 80s.

Hot, dry weather is expected across the Inland Northwest again today before a cool down starts on Wednesday and continues into the weekend, forecasters said.

High temperatures in the lower and middle 90s are going to put the sizzle back in summer today and Tuesday.

After record-breaking high temperatures Saturday, the National Weather Service says it could get even hotter in the Puget Sound area.