Weekend weather: High temperatures arrive for weekend

A new round of hot weather will envelop the Inland Northwest through Saturday before moderating back to the 80s on Sunday and into next week.

National Weather Service forecasters said this heat wave won’t be as scorching as the one last week.

An offshore low in the eastern Pacific Ocean is going create a hotter southwest flow over the Inland Northwest.

A weak low pressure system on Saturday should bring enough clouds to prevent temperatures from going past 94 degrees in Spokane. There is also a slight chance of sprinkles.

Highs last week at Spokane International Airport peaked at 99 on Friday, although many locations reached triple digits.

This week, downtown Spokane should see highs of 92 degrees on Thursday, 93 on Friday, 94 on Saturday and 88 on Sunday.

A lot of people will beat the heat by going to the lake, but not by much.

Coeur d’Alene highs should be no more than a few degrees lower than in Spokane, peaking at 93 for a high on Saturday.

In Sandpoint, highs will run in the middle and upper 80s through Sunday.

In the mountains, there will be a slight chance of showers on Saturday and Saturday night. Highs will be in the lower 80s, dropping to the upper 70s on Sunday.

To the west, Lake Roosevelt will see highs in the 90s – peaking at 96 on Saturday. Southwest wind to 13 mph is expected Thursday afternoon.

To the north in the interior of British Columbia, roughly 220 wildfires were ignited mainly north of Kelowna after a lightning storm struck on Friday and Saturday

Approximately 14,000 people were evacuated, including the city of Williams Lake, according to CBC News on line.

The weather service in Spokane said roughly 10,000 lightning strikes were detected. The same weather system did not touch off fires in the Inland Northwest, but brought last week’s triple-digit heat to an end.