Heat wave settles over the Inland NW

Here are your magic words for the week: pools, splash pads, rivers, lakes, paddleboards and air conditioning.

National Weather Service forecasters are calling for highs in the middle 90s in downtown Spokane for Tuesday and Wednesday before the real heat moves over the region.

Highs in Spokane should be 99 on Thursday, 102 on Friday, 100 on Saturday and 99 on Sunday.

Coeur d’Alene should see a bit of a break from the heat with highs of 90 on Tuesday and Wednesday and 97 on Thursday through Sunday.

A huge mass of higher air pressure is moving northward along the West Coast of the U.S.

The conditions will be linked to extreme heat in the desert Southwest, which is expected to move northward.

A low in the Gulf of Alaska is going to create a southerly air flow that the heat will ride northward.

“The ridge then moves to central Washington by Sunday and remains there through the middle of next week,” National Weather Service forecasters said online Monday.

“In addition, the atmosphere remains very dry …” the forecast discussion said.

On Monday, the relative humidity dropped to 13 percent during the heat of the day.

Before the triple-digit heat arrives, the region will see a couple of days of an air flow from Canada, which may bring wildfire smoke as far south as Spokane and North Idaho, forecasters said.

Seeking relief

“It’s hot and sunny,” said Melissa Tollefson, after emerging from a paddleboard excursion on the Spokane River on Monday afternoon. But, she said, “It’s not bad at all out there.”

Tollefson and friend Heidi von Marbod chose to beat the heat by renting paddleboards from a park concession beneath the Division Street Bridge.

Von Marbod said that paddleboarding is relatively easy, and the trip upstream has its rewards beyond relief from the heat.

No-Li Brewhouse at 1003 E. Trent Ave. can be the destination for libation prior to returning, she said.

Von Marbod’s mother, who is 68, is a regular paddleboarder at Priest Lake, where she stays in shape on the water, Von Marbod said.

“She paddled here with me two weeks ago,” she said.

It looks like there will be more good paddleboarding days just ahead.

Savana Hania of Fun Unlimited Water Sports said the popularity of kayaking and paddleboarding brings a lot customers to the concession under the bridge, especially on evenings and weekends.

The company also operates at Red Lion Templin’s Hotel on the River at Post Falls.

In Spokane, the company rents out 15 paddleboards and seven kayaks. The cost is $22 for an hour, but the evening special starting at 4 p.m. offers three hours for the same price.

Fun Unlimited is posted at a public launch beneath the bridge. It can be reached from the Centennial Trail or the Spokane Convention Center parking garage.

Kayaks and paddleboards are not allowed downstream from the bridge because of the danger associated with the Spokane Falls and Avista hydropower works.

No clear end in sight

July came to an end with no measurable rainfall and 13 days of temperatures at 90 degrees or hotter.

The last rain came on June 28. The dry spell now stands at 33 days.

The longest Spokane dry spell on record was 73 days in 1917.

Forecasters said there is no clear end in sight for the summer heat with Monday expected to reach 102 in downtown Spokane.

The hottest day of the summer so far was 98 on July 6 at Spokane International Airport, which often runs a few degrees cooler than the core urban area in the summer, mainly because of the elevation difference.