February’s dry spell lingers on

The second half of February was one of the driest in recorded history across the Inland Northwest. During the last 17 days of the month, there was no measurable rain or snow in Spokane – only traces. For the month, Spokane International Airport finished at 1.04 inches of precipitation, 0.29 inches below normal. Only 1.1 inches of snow fell last month.

The average temperature was 6.2 degrees above normal at 39.2 degrees. Earlier in the month, the average temperature was more than 10 degrees above normal. The warmest day was Feb. 6 with a high of 57. Our coldest morning was Feb. 23 with a low of 19 degrees.

 Snowfall has been rather sparse this winter across the Inland Northwest. At the airport, 15.7 inches has fallen for the 2014-15 season. The normal to date is about 41 inches. Last year, Spokane had approximately 32 inches. Even if we received near-normal snowfall between now and the end of the season, Spokane would likely end up under 20 inches, less than half of normal.

 The almost snowless and drier-than-normal weather pattern in the Western U.S. has been caused by a giant high pressure ridge that refuses to budge. Our overall weather pattern still looks drier than normal until we get toward the middle to the end of next week. The long-range computer models move the high pressure ridge to the east, allowing for some moisture to move into our area. It appears that most of it will fall as rain, but there could be some snow showers on the back side of that system.