Soaking rains expected to yield to favorable travel conditions for Thanksgiving holiday

After a couple days of soaking rain, the weather in the Inland Northwest is expected to shift.

Greg Koch, National Weather Service meteorologist, said conditions for driving, including over the passes, should be decent by the middle of next week for Thanksgiving.

“Our region will get a chance to dry out a bit,” Koch said.

After many months of dry conditions, November has been soggy in Spokane. Through Thursday, 2.7 inches of rain had fallen in November in Spokane – more than an inch higher than normal. On Friday through 4 p.m., an additional 0.6 inches fell at the Spokane International Airport. Up to a half-inch of rain was expected to fall by Saturday morning, Koch said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor this week listed all of Spokane County in a moderate drought. A week earlier, half of the county was listed in a severe drought.

“The rain has been beneficial, helping to alleviate some of the long-term drought conditions throughout the region,” Koch said.

The temperature reached 44 degrees in Spokane on Friday, and precipitation fell as rain in some area mountains.

The snow level was 7,000 feet at Lookout Pass, Koch said. But it was only 2,000 feet near Bonners Ferry.