COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — By the look of things Monday afternoon, it doesn't seem like the Inland Northwest will receive the 4 inches of snow needed Thursday for customers to cash in on free jewelry through Clark's Diamond Jewelers' "Let it Snow" promotion.
The National Weather Service in Spokane predicts a mostly sunny day with a high of 34 degrees and a cloudy night with a low of 28 degrees.
And yet, "Jeweler Jane" Clark, who oversees operations at the 114-year-old Coeur d'Alene family-owned store, remains optimistic.
"I do wish it was colder right now," she said. "I do know that would help us a lot."
Clark said she had checked with Press climatologist Cliff Harris, who predicted storm upon storm for North Idaho in mid-January, and the forecast is to get some snow later in the week, "but it does look like it's a little bit warm," Clark said.
If it gets cold overnight, and if it's cold again Wednesday night, enough flakes could fall at the Spokane International Airport to fulfill the minimum needed for customers who made purchases between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31 to have those purchases fully refunded.
"If I've learned anything about the weather, it's that it's unpredictable," Clark said.
Last year's snow promo was steeped in controversy over how much snow actually fell and insurance coming through with refund money for Clark's customers. Clark's prevailed, handed out checks around Valentine's Day and stocked the inventory for those who wanted to spend their winnings in the store.
"Then things changed in an instant," Clark said, referring to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. "It was a really scary time for us as a small business, trying to keep our staff employed."
Again, Clark's prevailed, getting through COVID closures with much thanks to long-loyal and brand new customers.
"We’ve had a phenomenal year," Clark said. "I am so grateful for the community, supporting local business when it's so important."
She reported that Clark's "had a terrific holiday season. It was fun; a lot of the people who'd won last year came back in."
"What’s so fun for me is to work with generations of people," she said. "I had a situation where I had a young gentleman just starting out and he wanted to purchase a ring. He traded in a ring his mother had gotten here. She had gotten it free the first time they did the promotion over a decade ago."
The refunds many times go back into the community, Clark said.
"We had people tell us, 'We're buying furniture,' or doing additions on their house," she said. "We have a great scrapbook."
So Old Man Winter, if you're listening, how about another chapter in that "Let it Snow" scrapbook?
The Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press is a KREM 2 news partner. For more from our news partner, click here.
