Today through Wednesday-
Computer model agreement has greatly improved this morning but their idea is not for the better. We will have to deal with a strong split flow which will send all the storms well to our south and into California. As the name implies, the incoming storms will split into two and the northern half will stay well to our north over Canada. In a sense, we’re left under a very weak ridge of high pressure. One storm which has been poorly handled by the models lately is slowly inching its way eastward at this time. The radar picks up this feature well just to the west of Spokane. Returns showing up are in the moderate-heavy range, so there’s likely some decent amounts of rain falling with this. As it slowly heads east, for the rain to spread into the Spokane and Coeur’d Alene areas by about mid morning. This storm will be weakening so it’s hard to say how much precipitation will fall. Temperatures in the higher hills around the Coeur’d Alene area are right around freezing this morning. This could mean a rain/snow mix or perhaps all snow for elevations above 2500ft. Again, since the models are handling this poorly, it’s too hard to say how much if any snow will fall and accumulate.
Afterward, all storms head to our south through Wednesday so look for dry weather, but foggy conditions will likely remain present. Temperatures will be nearly steady in the lower-upper 30s.
Thursday through Sunday-
As we near the end of the next week, computer agreement drops quickly. The gfs holds onto a split flow into the next weekend while the European model suggests a colder northwest flow being overlapped by deep moisture out of the southwest. The outcome is sharply different on both models. The gfs is much drier but as a little snow nonetheless. The European model suggests we could see something close to what we had back in January aka 1-2 feet of snow perhaps. We’ll see which model holds strong in the coming days. Temperatures will be in the lower 30s on the gfs and lower-mid 20s if the Euro is correct.
Extended Outlook-
Cold, northwesterly flow prevails through the end of the month. The gfs model continues to suggest some very cold air invading around the 20th or so of this month. Snow levels would drop down to near sea level if it’s correct. Old Man Winter ain’t done with us yet! It’s only February!
