Finally, summer is here
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
City Beach is crowded on a sunny Monday morning.
BILL BULEY/Press
BILL BULEY/Press Bob Aha walks his dog Emma at City Park on Monday.
BILL BULEY/Press City Beach is crowded on a sunny Monday morning.
BILL BULEY/Press A masked person glides through City Park Monday.
BILL BULEY/Press Paddleboards and a parasailer head out on Lake Coeur d'Alene on Monday.
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | June 23, 2020 1:15 AM
Weather going forward expected to be hot and dry in place of the wet and cold
COEUR d’ALENE — Summer officially arrived Saturday.
Unofficially, though, it started Monday.
There were sunny skies, temperatures in the high 70s, and City Beach was packed with adults and kids swimming, playing, and sunbathing. Others rode bikes, glided along on skateboards and headed out on Lake Coeur d’Alene on paddleboards. A parasailer even soared high above the water.
The weather was a welcome relief from the waves of clouds and rain that have hung over North Idaho lately.
“Fantastic,” said Bob Aha as he walked his 12-year-old dog Emma along the wall at City Park. “Fantastic.”
Coeur d’Alene Climatologist Cliff Harris said after a colder and wetter than usual May and pretty much the same for most of June, North Idaho is headed into a stretch of mostly hot and dry conditions.
It starts today with temperatures expected to climb into the upper 80s.
“It is going to warm up,” said Harris, adding that he finally turned on his home’s air conditioner on Friday, the latest that has happened in some 30 years of living here.
Harris said it should be a normal summer, with the thermostat breaking 90 and even hitting 100 at least a few days. The rest of this week look for highs in the 70s, with a few thunderstorms and showers likely next week and the first part of July.
“Nothing really hot is in sight yet,” he said. “But things do look better.”
It’s been darn cold, with June lows in the 40s. On June 9, the high was just 52, Harris said, and on June 16 it reached only 55 degrees in Coeur d’Alene. Both were record-low maximums.
Temperatures for May and June were about 8 degrees cooler than normal.
“That’s unprecedented,” Harri said. “Those were more like April temperatures.”
The cold spell put huckleberry season about three weeks behind schedule, he said.
May saw 4.4 inches of rain, nearly double the usual of 2.7. It’s rained 2.04 inches in June alone.
For the year, Coeur d’Alene is at 17.05 inches of rain, well above the normal of 13 inches by this time.
“Most people may not like that but that’s good because we have the moisture,” Harris said.
But those recent days of waking up to a chill in the house and having to turn on the furnace should be gone.
“Yeah, it’s summer,” Harris said.
Kids at City Beach on Monday said it’s about time.
“Finally, I get to jump in the lake,” said 7-year-old Alex Larson.
ARTICLES BY BILL BULEY
Coeur d'Alene fire department damages historic home before preservation committee review
Older home inadvertently used for fire department training before Historic Preservation Commission review
“Unfortunately, the property owner granted permission to the Fire Department to conduct their training activities prior to the review and even though the demolition permit had not been issued,” a fire department press release said. “The Fire Department was not aware of the demolition review meeting scheduled for the subject property.”
Police eye designs for new building
Captain says operations have been maintained since last year's fire
The new police building will have a sprinkler system, which its predecessor did not because when it was acquired in 2016, it wasn't required that it have a sprinkler system as it was predominately used for storage.
Corridor traffic project bumped up
Mild weather allows work to begin on Government Way
The project includes upgrading traffic signal components at 10 intersections, bringing pedestrian ramps into ADA compliance, and providing coordination between signals to improve traffic flow.