Inland Northwest Hay Weather

The much talked-about rain is still expected to arrive Friday morning. Computer models are still working on the details, such as “how much?” and “when?” Here’s the average of computer forecasts for Friday through Saturday morning.  Around a 1/4” for the Spokane area.  More to the north, less to the south. The US model is now one of the wetter forecasts. During the weekend, the low will slowly pass over us.  This will bring us cool (in the 60s) and brisk (gusts to 30 mph), with showers possible.   As the low moves into Montana by Monday, rain is expected to wrap around the low and enter northeast Washington from BC.  Just how much rain and how far south it spreads are impossible to predict at this point.  Some forecasts predict no rain at all, while others have rain in northeast Washington lasting into Tuesday. For those thinking beyond this weekend weather system, the outlook for next week is for mostly dry and mild weather up through Independence Day. ...

Our prolonged June dry spell is coming to an end on Friday.  Before we get there,  gradual warming trend to near 90 by Wednesday.  Some locations might maintain a breeze all night long for the next few nights. This could inhibit dew formation.  Thursday will be breezy with wind gusts to 25 mph. The rain looks like it will arrive on Friday morning, possibly as early as sunrise.  The weather system is another slow, rolling low.  As such, there will be additional chances of rain as bands pinwheel around the low through the weekend.  Showery weather will be possible next week. How much rain are we looking at?  Here’s a few computer forecasts for the Friday-Saturday period.  T As usual, lots of variation. Some models give Spokane 0.1”, while others anticipate over a half inch. The weather is usually showery at this time of year, so amounts typically vary over small distances.  The weather will gradually warm up and dry out next week, but no h...

I trust everyone is busy putting up some nice first cutting hay. And in the back of your mind is the question “How long will this dry weather last?” After a breezy Saturday tomorrow, a weak weather system will clip our northeastern parts with a small chance of showers on Sunday.  Here’s what the chance of rain looks like from the European computer. Rain should be confined to the northern Panhandle and extreme northeast Washington. Rainfall amounts could be around a tenth of an inch in the northern Panhandle, and less than that in Pend Oreille county. Beyond that, we’re looking at another dry week.  Temperatures will warm to around 90F on Wednesday and Thursday.  Wind will be breezy starting Thursday and continue into next weekend as a weak cool front moves into the area. Temperatures will fall to around 80 for the last weekend of June, along with a threat of showers.  Here’s the European forecast for next Saturday.  About a 40-50% chance of rain. Beyond that, it...

I realize everyone is busy cutting, raking and baling. I just wanted to quickly draw your attention to a potential weather hazard on Tuesday. Not rain, but wind.  A weak weather system will pass by to our north on Tuesday. This will cause winds to gust in excess of 40 mph in some areas, possibly 50 mph in the Basin. Here’s the European computer forecast for Tuesday afternoon wind gusts.  This kind of wind could play havoc with windrows of hay.   Also, for those who live where the fine grasses have cured, this could pose a potential wildfire threat.   This storm system could bring a few showers to the northern Panhandle on Wednesday. Aside from that, the weather looks dry this week.  Small chances of rain don’t show up until Monday the 22nd and continue through much of next week.  Too far out to make any plans around, until we get a bit closer to the potential event.  

I’m guessing most of you know what I mean by the term “cold pocket”. There’s just some locations that nearly always seem to be colder than the surrounding areas. While this tends to happen more in areas of varied terrain, it can happen just about anywhere. So why do cold pockets exist?  Mainly it has to do with those locations where the wind goes calm at night.  This allows the atmosphere to cool without the wind mixing in warmer air from above.  And it’s usually not obvious why a location likes to go calm at night. Additionally, the direction of the wind plays a role. Some locations go calm except if this wind is from a certain direction. The Inland Northwest has a lot of these cold pockets. And our recent June cold snap showed a number of them. When I started with the Weather Service in Spokane 30 years ago, we had very few weather observations.  Mainly just the airports. But that included the Deer Park airport.  And so we knew that Deer Park was a cold pocke...

Our mid-June rainstorm is over. Some locations picked up significant rainfall.  Drier air is moving into the region. This will allow our temperatures on Thursday morning to drop into the 30s once again .  But then the steady warming trend begins. The warmth should peak around 90 by next Tuesday before temperatures cool off some. As we talked about in the last blog, the position of the high pressure offshore leaves us open to weather systems from the northwest. We’ll see one of those on Friday, but the threat of showers should be minor and mainly confined to north of Newport.  Here’s the European rainfall forecast for Friday.  The next small chance of rain looks to be around the 20th of June.  It also looks like it could get a little breezy next week.  Dew points look like they will stay in the 40s, which will mean afternoon humidity around 25%, and not a heavy morning dew.