A Little Rain for your Weekend

Our cold Alaskan weather system will soon be moving out of our area.  This will bring an end to the snow and graupel showers, along with the cold nights.  Friday will be drier but still cool.  It will also have some breezy winds from the northeast which will make it feel chillier.  Saturday should be excellent Inland NW spring day with abundant sunshine and warmer temperatures, although the northeast winds will continue.

A nicely-timed cold front will move through the area on Saturday night, exiting on Sunday morning.  There will be some afternoon showers on Sunday along with gusty southwest winds and cooler temperatures.  So Saturday is your best bet for outdoor activities.

How much rain will we get from this front?  It won't be a gully-washer, but definitely more than we've had from the showers this week.  Here's the forecast from the US and European models.  They're fairly close to each other.  The Panhandle will get more than 0.25", Spokane and the Palouse around 0.10" and the Basin may see some Sunday afternoon showers.



After this weekend rain, high pressure will build over the area for dry and warmer weather to start off next week.  Tuesday and Wednesday could see temperatures return to the lower 70s.

 But by the latter half of next week, a broad trough of lower pressure will develop over the West.  This won't be a cold weather system.  Highs should still be in the 60s.  But it sets up a better chance of seeing some wetter weather from Thursday onward.  California will see another round of cooler, wetter weather; unusual for this time of year, but typical for El Nino.






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