Weather

A winter storm watch was upgraded to a winter storm warning this afternoon for far Eastern Washington and North Idaho as well as locations closer to the Cascades as an arctic weather system approached the region with a potential for heavy snow.

A wind chill advisory that was in effect for most of Eastern Washington and North Idaho this morning was dropped this afternoon, but a winter storm watch was issued for 4 to 7 inches of snow in Valley locations starting Wednesday afternoon.

Snowfall in Spokane County this morning and Friday was far less than expected, the National Weather Service said. But totals in some locations in North Idaho came close to the 11-inches or more that were predicted, said Bob Tobin, National Weather Service forecaster, this morning.

Freezing fog is creating slick roadways this morning, and the haze is expected to stick around through 1 p.m.

Winter doesn’t officially begin until Dec. 21, but weather patterns in the Inland Northwest are finally beginning to change. Skiers and snowboarders are eagerly awaiting the arrival of big snows. Between now and the end of January, it appears we’ll be in the grips of a colder and snowier pattern for our area as well as much of the Pacific Northwest. I’m expecting about 70 percent of our season’s snowfall to blanket our region during that time. This would translate to about 35 inches at the airport and close to 50 inches in Coeur d’Alene. In the higher mountains, up to 150 inches of new snow can be expected during the next six weeks. Despite the expected increased snows, we should receive far less than what we saw last season.

Snow by Friday and arctic cold by Sunday are forecast by the National Weather Service in Spokane.

If you thought you shoveled a lot in December, you're right. December brought the most days with measured snowfall in a single month since January 1969, the year many old-timers claim was the worst winter ever in the Inland Northwest.

If July felt unusually hot this year in the Inland Northwest, you are right. An analysis by the National Weather Service in the region showed that the average temperature for the month broke the record for Sandpoint and Kellogg.

A vulture patiently watches a row of dying sea lions. Photo by Associated Press

The Yanomamis think it's Armageddon. For weeks, the Indians of northwestern Brazil's Roraima state, about 2,000 miles from Rio de Janeiro, have watched in fear as what officials call the worst fire ever to strike the Amazon rain forest edges toward their huts. Searching the smoke-filled skies, the Yanomamis see angry spirits, descending plagues and the world's approaching end. They've turned to chanting for hours with their shamans, trusting Stone Age traditions to stave off a particularly 21st-century disaster.

Nearly 100 young students had just finished their lunch at a school in eastern India when the tornado struck. "Suddenly very strong winds hit the school from nowhere. Then the walls collapsed," 12-year-old Ranjan Ray recalled Wednesday.

Surveys released Wednesday at a forestry conference indicate at least 38,000 square miles of woodland were damaged during January's catastrophic ice storm in eastern Canada and northern New England. Barbara Burns of Vermont's forest department and Bruce Pendrel of the Canadian Forest Service said the damage is variable and spotty but the hardest hit areas are in Quebec, Ontario and Maine. Burns said the most severe losses are in hardwood stands, notably birch, poplar and maple.

When you're talking about the damage done to California agriculture by this winter's El Nino-influenced rainstorms, time is of the essence. Do you mean short-term problems, like the damage the water did to fruit now being harvested? Do you mean medium-term problems, such as how the rain delayed plantings for crops that will be harvested this spring? Or is it long term: How is this going to play out in the fall and beyond? Strawberries have borne the brunt of the storms so far, but while some fruit was lost, few plants were damaged. Given a few more days of clear weather, things should be back to normal.

Thick fog covers Hong Kong harbor Sunday, leading to a monumental traffic jam. Photo by Associated Press

A snow-covered bicycle in Madison, Wis., is stark testimony to the winter ravages that continue to plague the Midwest. Photo by Associated Press

Los Angeles County inmates on a work detail spread plastic sheeting over the front of the home of Virginia Reeves to turn rainwater away from already soggy ground on Wednesday in Malibu, Calif. There is concern that her home and the road running in front of it could be further undermined in future storms. Photo by Associated Press