SPOKANE, Wash — We first approached the long-range winter forecast for Spokane and the Inland Northwest some 3 months ago. At the time, it was all about El Niño, which was expected to bring warmer temperatures and less snow on the ground, especially in low elevations.
Here we are, through what is historically our coldest and snowiest stretch of winter, and there's not much to show for it.
We’re hard-pressed to find any snow on the ground in places like Spokane or Coeur d’Alene, or even in Deer Park or the Palouse. And in the mountains, it doesn’t look much better.
The mountains of the Inland Northwest sit at about 60% of the normal snowpack for this time of year. Some higher, some lower. We get those numbers by taking a core of the snowpack and melting it down to find the snow-water equivalent.
Overall, we know the best killer of a snowpack is stretches of temperatures well above freezing. And so far, that’s what winter has been. Despite our few cold snaps and good snows, unseasonable warmth with bouts of rain plagued even some of our highest peaks and ate it all away.
In short, it's been a classic El Niño winter.
Now, some longer-range forecast models indicate the return of ENSO neutral conditions to the equatorial pacific, or no El Niño by April, or even sooner.
So, once we get through our current stretch of cooler temps, winter will likely return to what it has been, MILD.
It will still be possible to get snow and cold snaps, but the overall warmer weather means it won’t last long.
When it comes to fog, we’re quickly approaching the time of year when our sun angle gets high enough to help burn off some of it during the day. And when you put all of this together, it means spring-like weather will be here sooner than you think.
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