COEUR d'ALENE - At last.

Lake Coeur d'Alene was glittering on Wednesday, the air carried the perfume of freshly mowed lawn, and hordes descended on bike trails and parks as if they were discovering the outdoors for the first time.

The sun was back.

For however long it was going to last this time.

"The barbecues. The environment. The basketball," said Carlos Ortiz of Coeur d'Alene's fine weather treats. "I'm so excited for it."

Taking a break from basketball with his pals in City Park, Ortiz stood basking in the sun.

The fellas had been feeling cooped up with all that cold weather, he said. What a relief to run and sweat.

"I hope it keeps on staying nice. No more rain," the 18-year-old said.

Readings on outdoor thermometers sailed up to 77 on Wednesday in Coeur d'Alene, breaking a 7-month streak of rainy, cloudy, frosty, icy, windy bum-you-out weather.

Coeur d'Alene hasn't reached temperatures above 70 since Oct. 6, said Climatologist Cliff Harris.

There hasn't been such a long stretch between 70-degree days since 1991, he added.

"It's been a long winter," Harris said.

And one besieged with ongoing rain and snow storms.

"It was the third snowiest April, the third coldest and the third wettest on record since 1895," Harris said.

No wonder folks were breaking out the flip flops on Wednesday.

At City Park, the Centennial Trail was packed with kids jostling on skateboards, couples moseying hand in hand, bikers slicing by.

Children shrieked as they tussled in the park. Some folks lounged on the steps by the water, drinking in the peace of it all.

When Kalli McGilley and her friend, Salena Leavitt, saw the weather forecast, the Spokane residents decided to drive to Coeur d'Alene for the day to eat at Pita Pit and toss a Frisbee in City Park.

"There's just so much to do at this location," McGilley said, holding the Frisbee as the pair stood in the grass in their sandals and short sleeves. "You can't beat it, looking at the lake while you do activities."

They clearly weren't alone in their thinking, Leavitt said, glancing at the throngs.

"Look at everybody out," she said. "Everybody's been kind of angry with the weather. It's nice to have a change."

The sunshine still has a lot of winter to make up for, McGilley added.

"It had better skip through the 70s and go right into the 80s," she said.

Stacie Klopfenstein and Nancy Brubaker took advantage of the sun by pedaling their bikes from Liberty Lake to Higgens Point, their favorite route to train for Ironman and upcoming biking competitions.

"We're out here for all day," Brubaker said, grinning up at the sky. "We've been riding in rainy and grimy weather. This is unbelievable."

Laurie Sharples and her husband, John, took a break from their daily walk to sit on a bench with coffee in hand.

"Right now, it's too hot, to be honest," Laurie said with a laugh.

Lately they've been strolling through bitter winds, though, she said, so this is still preferred.

"We've had a long winter," she said.

On the beach of Lake Coeur d'Alene, the Coeur d'Alene Outdoors homeschool group let loose about a dozen kids to romp in the waves.

Kids buried themselves in sand, dug trenches with buckets and kicked off their shoes to charge shrieking into the water.

Nine-year-old Silas Connella bounded up to his mother after soaking himself, fully clothed, in the lake water.

"This is the whole reason I came," he declared before darting back for more.

His mother, Misty Connella, said the kids have been suffering from a little cabin fever.

The group tries to get the kids outside in the winter with activities like skiing, she said, but warm days provide so many more possibilities.

"There are a lot more opportunities right now, and not so expensive. Just packing a lunch and heading to the beach," Connella said. "We try and keep them active. Healthy."

Don't get too used to this, Harris warned.

Thunderstorms are doomed to follow immediately behind the good weather this week, he said, maybe even starting today.

Storms are expected this weekend, too, he added.

"It (the sunshine) isn't going to last, but it's nice for right here," he said.

Samantha Thompson was only thinking about the sun as she skidded her bike down the Centennial Trail by Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive on Wednesday.

Thompson finds sunny days just put folks in a better mood, she said.

"If they were depressed, they're less so," she said.

She wouldn't get her hopes up about it lasting, though, Thompson said with a laugh.

"Just trying to get out and enjoy the sun before it's rainy again," she said.