Mayday: Warm weather wanted
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 10 months AGO
Fog hovers above Lake Coeur d'Alene near Sanders Beach on Tuesday morning.
BILL BULEY/Press
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 3, 2022 1:00 AM
COEUR d'ALENE — Tuesday's 71 degrees couldn't save May from being the coldest on record in Coeur d'Alene.
The average daily temperature was 48 for the month, which broke the previous mark of 50 degrees set in 1950.
That followed the fourth-coldest April with an average daily temperature of 42 degrees.
"It's been a cold two months," said climatologist Cliff Harris.
And wet.
It rained 3.3 inches in May, nearly double the normal of 1.7 for the year. It's rained 15.38 inches in Coeur d'Alene, about 3 inches above normal and 5 inches more at the same time last year.
Harris said it also snowed in the mountains over the Memorial Day weekend, which will help the region's summer water supply picture.
"There is no drought," he said.
Harris said there were only two days in April and May with temperatures above 70, both in late May, which is another record. The previous low was four in 1950.
While a few 70-degree days are in the immediate forecast, Harris expects it to return to the 60s, with rain, by the weekend and into next week.
Fog blanketed downtown Coeur d'Alene and Lake Coeur d'Alene Tuesday morning.
Harris said it was late in the season for fog, but he noted that it was only 39 degrees overnight and the lake still isn't even 50 degrees.
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