COEUR d'ALENE - Hello December, right on the heels on November - where snow records were made to be frozen.

Broken, rather. And the new November total snow record was still accumulating by press time, but by 4 p.m. Tuesday, 33.3 inches had fallen for the month, besting 1973's record of 31.6 inches.

By midnight, closer to 36 inches were expected.

"It's starting to really fall now," said Cliff Harris, regional climatologist. "The biggest patch is to the southwest of us still."

So December's beginning is going to look a lot like November's close.

Wednesday and Thursday will bring more flurries, mixed with rain as temperatures rise to the mid 30s during the afternoons, but a few more inches could pile up by Friday afternoon, when it's expected to stop.

What's the normal snowfall for the 11th month? Try 3.4 inches. And this year's record used only a third of the days to compile, since the first flakes really started falling Nov. 21.

"If I had some better boots I'd be loving it," said Jonathan Bransford on the new record while walking downtown Tuesday. Recently moved to Coeur d'Alene from Texas, the winter started off as a shock to him, other than his wet socks. "They don't hold moisture out so my feet are cold."

The record was broken shortly before noon Tuesday. Around 3.4 inches had fallen for the day by 4 p.m.

Temperatures are expected in the mid 20s for the weekend, with no snow, but gray skies.

For December, another 25 or 30 inches is on tap, Harris said.

But twice as much snow fell in November than Harris originally predicted, so could December prove more than expected?

"We don't want to double that," he said. "But then we'll see where we go in December."

The season's total snowfall is still expected to be just over 80 inches, he said.