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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Warm weather to return to Spokane next week following wintery weekend

Deer sprint across Hauser Lake in North Idaho on Feb. 18 as lake ice, about 13 inches thick, produces sound waves created by shifting ice plates below the surface and air pockets that force pressure creating high and low frequencies. To watch a film on the beautiful phenomenon, see “Concerto Obscura: The Singing Ice of Hauser Lake” at spokesman.com/video. The film comprises some 14,000 individual still photos of about 240 hours of running camera time. concerto obscura: (Brian Plonka/For The Spokesman-Review)
By Nick Gibson nickg@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

The Inland Northwest has some of the warmest days of the year so far to look forward to next week, but will first need to endure a cold and wet weekend.

“It is spring in the Inland Northwest,” said Greg Koch, a meteorologist with the Spokane branch of the National Weather Service, “so we can expect a variety of weather in the upcoming days.”

The National Weather Service has forecast mostly clear skies with high temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s Tuesday and Wednesday, which would be Spokane’s highest temperatures of the year, breaking the current 2025 record of a high of 61 on March 1. Last year, Spokane broke the 70 degree benchmark on March 17.

Before the sun arrives, Eastern Washington and North Idaho will see some weekend mix of winter precipitation. Koch said the forecast calls for rain, graupel and small hail on Friday night. The Spokane area can expect as much as a quarter-inch of precipitation, while North Idaho may see twice that.

The precipitation will continue into Saturday morning, to the benefit of spring skiers, Koch said. The snow level will be around 3,000 feet of elevation, with the Idaho Panhandle expecting between 5 to 10 inches and the Cascades forecast to receive up to 2 feet over the weekend.

“While we do have elements of winter weather all the way through Sunday morning, in the form of mountain snow and kind of graupel showers, a significant warm up will occur next week,” Koch said.

That warmer weather is a bit unusual, Koch said, but it’s not an extreme outlier. Temperatures in the Inland Northwest can fluctuate greatly in the months of March and April, as cold fronts roll in and out and the hours of sunlight grow each day.

“We are past the equinox and we’re receiving a good amount of hours of sunlight each day,” Koch said. “And with the sun angle increasing, if we get clear skies, high pressure and warmer air aloft, we do have the ability to warm up pretty quickly from one day to the next.”