SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane and much of the Inland Northwest are experiencing frigid temperatures through the weekend as lows remain down near 13 until a slight warmup on Monday.
Temperatures fell into the single digits on Friday for the first time since early March of 2019. Factor in the wind and it felt like it was below zero for most locations.
Arctic air funneling into the United States is dropping temperatures to the coldest they’ve been all winter. Parts of Minnesota and Montana have already recorded real temperatures of more than 30 degrees below zero and all that cold is now in the Northwest.
A Wind Chill Advisory was in place for the bitter cold Friday morning and remains in effect until 11 a.m. Saturday. The advisories encompass the Okanogan Valley, Eastern Washington from Spokane north, and North Idaho from Coeur d'Alene to the Canadian border. The advisory will be in place for wind chills or "feels like" temperatures fall to -15 to -5 degrees in these areas. That is cold enough to be dangerous to those who are outside in the elements.
On Friday morning, Spokane dropped to 9 degrees, making it the coldest day since March 4, 2019 when it was just 6 degrees. The last time it was below zero in Spokane was two days before that when temperatures dropped to -1 degree on March 1, 2019.
The Arctic airmass is a cold and dry one, which means Spokane should stay dry along with these chilly temperatures.
Temperatures have been trending below normal in Spokane. The normal high this time of year is 39 degrees. This is typically the time of year the Inland Northwest starts speeding into spring, but it won't get that warm in the days to come.
Spokane dropped below our coldest day so far this season, which was 13 degrees all the way back on Oct. 25. Fun fact about that 13 degrees: it occurred a little more than two weeks after Spokane hit 82 degrees on Oct. 7.
The Arctic airmass already dropped temperatures below zero as far south as Kansas Tuesday morning. As the airmass continues to spread, that bitter cold will move farther south, farther east, and farther west.
With the coldest days aside, temperatures will trend below normal in the Spokane area for the rest of the week.
