Inland Northwest Hay Weather

I know, you’re looking out your window at the mid-March snow on the ground (poorly predicted by the way), and I’m talking about a heat wave.  And yet, your weather app is talking about 60s next week.  Here’s the predicted weather map for this coming Thursday. As you know by now, red shading means abnormal high pressure, which equates to warmth.  This prediction is for warmth all across the West.  This weather pattern is more typical of summer than March. And the predicted temperatures back that up.  Below is a map of forecast high temperatures for Tuesday 17 March that meet or exceed the record high for that day.  That’s some pretty warm temperatures spread over a rather large.  Here’s the same map for Wednesday.  Temperatures are increasing and spreading out. Now for Thursday: Triple digits in much of the desert southwest, with the heat extending all the way to Arkansas and up to North Dakota. And yes, even a predicted record of 65 at Lewiston....

Round 2 of this windy week is looking stronger than part 1. The weather pattern is pretty classic for high wind in these parts. A deepening low pressure system that moves west to east along the US-Canadian border.  Wind will increase Wednesday evening, gusting to 50 mph by about 10 pm.  The peak wind should occur around 2am Thursday. Wind gusts to 65 mph are possible.  By about 5am Thursday, wind gusts should be decreasing to about 45 mph Here’s the European model forecast for peak winds. It’s worth noting that with Sunday’s wind event, the European (and all the other computer forecasts) were about 5-10 mph too light with the peak gusts. So the forecast below may be on the light side   Another storm is right on the heels of the windstorm. But rather than more wind, this storm looks like it will bring us some precipitation. Could be in the form of wet snow on Friday morning, mainly in the northern valleys, but mostly it will be a rainy Friday. Probably on 0.1-0.2” of ...

We’ve had some rather tranquil weather for the first couple of months of 2026. That may be changing for next week.  Sunday’s front is still forecast as we talked about in the last blog. It won’t bring much precipitation, but it will bring some gusty winds. This is the ECMWF wind gust forecast for Sunday afternoon. Wind gusts will generally be in the 30-40 mph range. Nothing damaging, but not a very pleasant day.  Cooler and MUCH drier air will move into the area behind the front.  Dew points will fall into the teens.  High temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will be in the lower 40s with wind gusts to 25 mph. The dryness of the air will make any breeze feel rather chilly.  Expect light snow or snow pellet showers for Monday through Wednesday morning.  Not much impact from them, except for emotional impact.  By next Wednesday afternoon or Thursday we could see another blustery storm. Too far into the future to pin down details with any confidence. Gusts ...

  February in the Inland Northwest is typically a transitional month from winter to spring. We saw the usual mix this year.  It was mild during the first half of the month, followed by a colder spell that brought some snow along with the coldest temperatures of the entire winter. Deer Park had its only sub-zero temperature of the year on the morning of the 20th. Here’s how the temperatures for the month compared to a normal February.  Generally more than 3 degrees warmer than it should be   Moisture for the month was lacking for most of the state, although the lower Columbia Basin and Lewiston-Clarkston areas fared well. So where does that leave us for the winter as a whole?  Kind of a mixed bag.  Some parts of the Northwest are doing well (blue and purple areas).  But there are locations where we’re starting to fall behind, most notably in the northeast section of Washington. Here’s the precipitation accumulation graphic for Deer Park.   The brow...

As I spelled out in the previous blog, we would see a return of snow into the forecast later this month. That still looks to be the case.  A major weather system will dive south of us and head into California this weekend. They will be the weather news maker.  But a couple of weak weather systems could also move through the region this weekend.  The first should arrive Friday night.  This will mostly be in the form of rain but some snow is possible. Another weaker and less certain storm could move through here on Saturday night or Sunday with more chances of rain or snow. By the middle of next week, the entire West will be under the influence of a rather cold weather system.  For our area, there will be a chance of snow each day starting about Tuesday the 17th and continuing for several days.  At this point we don’t see any strong storms, although there could one lurking that we just can’t see yet.   But the atmosphere will be very unstable.  Snow...

They’ve had very little use this winter. But they’re probably still handy, just in case. Our snow shovels. Will we need our shovels anymore this winter? We are expecting a pattern change due to a rather wet weather system this weekend. Here’s the best guess of rainfall from the National Blend of Models.  A half inch around Spokane with more over Pend Oreille county.  Some models focus the rain south of Spokane, so there’s still some uncertainty.  The rain will spread across the Cascades late Saturday afternoon and evening.  Then there could be a break on Sunday morning before heavier rain arrives during the afternoon and evening  the precipitation has a chance of changing to wet snow Sunday night north of Spokane but shouldn’t have any impact   Behind these storms cooler air will move into the region.  Nothing cold.  Highs will still be in the lower to mid 40s.  Next week will be mostly dry with a small chance of rain or snow showers.  N...