Spokane gets its first snow of the season. Is cold weather here to stay?

Wednesday marked the first freeze and the first snow of the season as parts of Spokane were dusted with just over an inch of fluff.

While the weekend was unseasonably warm, and Monday and Tuesday had high temperatures of 47 degrees, Wednesday felt more like a traditional winter in Spokane, with a high of 36 at the Spokane International Airport.

Steven Van Horn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said this fluctuation “isn’t unusual.”

Snow in October is perhaps more so.

“(It’s) not typical that we see snow like this in October, but it’s not unheard of,” Van Horn said. “I think in the last four or five years we’ve had some snow in October.”

In 2020, Spokane had its snowiest October day on record when over 6 inches fell on the 23rd.

The annual average first snow in Spokane, Van Horn said, is November 10th.

The snow isn’t expected to stick, but the cold that accompanied it will continue for a little while.

“Today is really the only day we’re expecting snow here in Spokane, and then we’ll just be colder and drier,” Van Horn said Wednesday. “Temperatures overall are going to be below normal through the weekend… We could see lows in the lower-20s.”

But temperatures are predicted to even out going into next week, with highs near 50 degrees Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lows in the lower 30s and highs in the upper-40s are normal this time of year.