Inland Northwest Hay Weather

Just a couple of days ago we hit 80 degrees at many places, followed by a thunderstorm near Deer Park yesterday. And now we’re talking about snow? To be honest, a few of the computers were hinting at this a week ago, but I didn’t want to mention it. The computer models have really struggled with this weekend forecast. But now they’re coming into better agreement. The culprit is a deep low right over the Northwest, sending hard-to-predict bands of rain into our area. You can even see the low on radar, just west of Spokane. Rain from this low will continue Saturday night.  Then another round of rain could spin through the area on Sunday.  Meanwhile, cold air will be moving down from Canada The best way to view this is to look at the temperature forecast at about 5000 feet above sea level.  Here's that weather map on Saturday morning. And here's the forecast map for Sunday evening.  Notice how much colder (bluer) things are up in Canada, as well as our area north o...

While thunderstorms have been observed every month in the Inland Northwest, fall and winter thunderstorms are definitely in the rare category. But then again, temperatures near 80 on 9 October are also rare. (The record high for Spokane is 81 for this date, set back in 1934). The European model has consistently been showing a batch of showers moving through eastern Washington on Friday morning.  And the overall pattern does suggest the potential for a morning clap of thunder with these showers.  So don’t be surprised if you hear a rumble Friday morning.  This is just the lead up to a wetter weekend. It’s not going to rain for 2 straight days. But there will be periods of rain over the weekend and into Monday.  Here’s the Model Blend forecast of how much rain we might receive by Monday morning.  Around 1/4” in Spokane, with higher amounts to the north.  Temperatures will be decidedly cooler. Daytime highs on Sunday and especially Monday might not warm out of...

As I mentioned in the previous blog, there was the potential for September 2025 to set a record for the warmest September ever recorded in Spokane. Now that we’ve turned the calendar, we can definitely say that September 2025 was the warmest on record, going back to 1881. Here’s the top 10 list.  A few things to note. September 2024 is third on the list of warmest Septembers. And 2022 is in 5th place. Is this a trend, or is something going on at the Spokane Airport? If you’ve read other blog entries you know I’ve pointed out that the temperature sensor at Spokane Airport is surrounded by a lot of concrete runways and tarmacs, which could contribute to a warm bias. But in this case, that’s not the sole cause.  If we look at other stations in the Northwest, the story is the same. Below is a map showing the ranking of 2025 temperatures in September. Missoula and Yakima also had their warmest September on record, with other locations coming close to setting records, including Lewi...

September 2025 has provided us with a lot of sunshine and warm temperatures. In fact, with a week to go, Spokane is looking at the potential for its warmest September ever.  A lot could happen in that last week, so it’s not a guarantee.  But 2025 September is currently running almost 3 degrees warmer than the current record holder of 1938.  Remarkably, second place was set last September.  The trend of the last few decades is clearly for a warmer September. But the computer models expect the month to end on a cooler and wetter note.  We’ll have one more day in the 80s tomorrow (Thursday). And then a dry, breezy cold front will drop our temperatures back into the 70s. The wind and warmth on Thursday could cause some wildfire concerns.  A change in the weather pattern will occur next week.  The first front on  Sunday night and Monday will bring a low chance of showers.  Tuesday and Wednesday will have a high chance of rain.  And there’s co...

As always, folks will differ in their opinion of what the summer weather was like. Was it a hot summer or just right?  Was it dry or wet? First, let’s start by looking at the entire lower 48 states. For temperatures, it was a little warmer than normal, but nothing outrageous.  The largest anomalies were in the Northwest. For precipitation, the West was drier than normal while the middle of the country was wetter than average. One notable exception to the dry conditions in the West was California Sierra Nevada as well as southeast Oregon. The monsoon season for Arizona and the Great Basin was a little disappointing .  A closer look at the summer precipitation of the Northwest shows that the dry conditions were confined largely to the Columbia Basin as well as western Washington and Oregon.  Southwest Oregon and north-central Montana had a wetter than normal summer.   One notable aspect of the map above is the area in dark red, which indicates the driest summer on...

Our cooler weather the past couple of days isn’t due to a change in the weather pattern, but rather due to the wildfire smoke blocking some of the suns rays. Here’s a morning satellite picture, showing the thick smoke over eastern Washington and the slowly approaching clouds over southwest Washington.  Thankfully, our changing weather pattern will also push the smoke out of our area. Here’s a computer depiction of the smoke on Saturday morning.  And here’s what that computer predicts things will look like by Monday morning.  And as our weather pattern changes, we’ll say goodbye to the unusual late summer heat wave, and welcome in highs in the 70s, which is actually what we should be at for this time of year.  But when will the rain arrive and how much will we get?  Our first chance of rain will be Saturday night and Sunday.  This is a very low probability event, which is common with the first wave after a dry spell.  Sprinkles for most, although a few ...