Spokane airport hits 60 degrees; cold front expected later in the week

Temperatures at the Spokane International Airport broke 60 degrees on Sunday afternoon for the first time since October.

According to the National Weather Service, a temperature of 61 degrees was reported at the airport just after 2 p.m., marking the first time since Oct. 22 when the weather was 60 degrees or warmer. It ended a streak of 169 days when the thermometer failed to hit 60.

Not since 2014 has Spokane seen its first 60-degree day in April, the weather service said.

The longest streak for days that didn’t break 60 degrees was 180 in 1884, the weather service said. The latest date Spokane has ever recorded a 60-degree day was on April 24, 2011. The earliest date was on Jan. 1, 1918.

However, the warm weather isn’t expected to last.

A “wet and mild” storm will move through the region through Tuesday morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Valerie Thaler said.

“The system will bring widespread rain across the region but the heaviest will be in northeast Washington and North Idaho,” she said. “This will bring increased snow melt, which will result in rises in creeks and streams.”

Also expect possible field flooding and basement leaks, she said.

Temperatures will remain in the high 50s on Monday in the Spokane area (with a 79-degree forecast for Lewiston), but a cold front between Tuesday and Thursday night will bring below freezing temperatures overnight, Thaler said.

“It’s maybe not the best idea to put on the sprinkler system just yet,” she said.