COEUR d'ALENE - No one needs to take a triple-dog dare to know it has been cold enough for a tongue to freeze to a flagpole.

But where's the snow?

Climatologist Cliff Harris says that with the cold, there just hasn't been enough moisture to create a snowfall of substance, at least at the region's lower elevations where most people live.

But that could change later this week, as temperatures continue to climb toward the 30s.

"By Thursday night into Friday, that would be the time that we could have the heaviest snow. Enough to shovel, but not that much," Harris said.

That's if the temperatures remain between 30 and 32 degrees. But with the current weather pattern, Harris said the temperatures are going to continue to rise, and the precipitation that falls might be a mix of snow and rain, or just rain.

"It could be a slushy, mushy mess out there," he said.

Thermometer readings could be in the upper 30s by Saturday, he said.

That's a far cry from last weekend, when it was a record-setting 1 degree in Coeur d'Alene. It hasn't been that cold on Dec. 7 in the Lake City since 1972, Harris said.

He explained that this winter's weather pattern is one of fluctuating extremes between bitter cold air arriving with northwesterly winds and then warm air arriving from the southwest.

"With this pattern, most of the moisture has come in the form of rain," Harris said.

The temperature on Dec. 1 was 43 degrees, accompanied by almost record moisture, he said. Then the temperatures crashed, with daily highs in the teens and lows in the single digits, and things dried up.

Harris said this weather pattern does not bode well for snow lovers at the lower elevations of 2,200 to 2,500 feet.

So far, just 3.9 inches of snow have fallen for the entire season. That's one-fifth of the regular snowfall.

But there is some good news for those who enjoy a few festive flakes.

A storm system is heading into the area from the northwest, Harris said, where all that cold air comes from.

"We are going to have a white Christmas," he said.