COEUR d’ALENE — The sun is shining on Clark's Diamond Jewelers and its customers.

Store officials were excited to declare victory on Monday, when they announced that Clark's won the battle against its insurance company and out-of-state weather service regarding the amount of snow that fell one month ago in Coeur d’Alene.

The insurance company accepted the store's policy and the roughly $500,000 award will be paid out, meaning customers who shopped at Clark's during the Let it Snow promotion period between Nov. 22 and Dec. 31 will receive refunds for their purchases.

"It's amazing. It's such a huge relief," said store owner “Jeweler" Jane Clark. "We're really excited to be able to do these refunds."

The promotion promised to refund the cost of the purchases if it snowed 3 inches or more on Jan. 11, a day selected by Clark's with insight from longtime Coeur d'Alene climatologist Cliff Harris, who operates a weather station with a Doppler radar at his home in central Coeur d’Alene. He checks the station six times a day.

Harris measured 3.6 inches of snow in that 24-hour window, but initially Clark's insurance company declined to pay the claim after using measurement data provided by Illinois-based Weather Command, which initially recorded just 1.8 inches of snow that day. 

Clark's immediately asked for an audit and the data returned from Weather Command with an updated report of 2.3 inches.

"We proved that we had over 4 inches of snow at virtually every station that day," Harris said.

Harris, who has fielded more than 400 calls on the matter in the past month and felt personally insulted his measurements were questioned, threatened to sue the insurance company over the whole thing. He was relieved to hear the news that Clark's won, "but I would have fought it all the way down the line."

"I hope I get an apology" from the insurance company, he said. "If I don't, well, the people getting the jewelry can be the apology."

Clark said it was a battle and the store had to "lawyer up" to fight, but support from the people of Coeur d'Alene who witnessed the weather firsthand and local media closely following the story made a world of difference.

"In a big way, the community came together for us," she said. "People were sending us videos and pictures. We appreciate all of that. It seems some of those things definitely helped."

Clark's will host a client appreciation party on Feb. 21 to celebrate with customers and distribute refund checks. The store is also offering to arrange store credit of refunds to be used this week for those who were hoping to apply those funds to Valentine's Day gifts.

"To be able to offer a promotion like this that's so incredible and be able to follow through, this is what we’ve been waiting for the last three times we’ve done it," she said.

"The truth prevails."