COEUR d'ALENE — No snow, so no go.

"It was one of the few years we weren't really close," said Dan Clark of Clark's Diamond Jewelers.

The Sherman Avenue store's “Let It Snow” promotion didn't get the hoped for 5 inches of snow at the Spokane International Airport on Saturday. A trace of precipitation was all that was measured.

"Of all the years we've done it, there's only been a couple when it's been a total bluebird," Clark said Monday.

If the required amount of snow had fallen, it would have meant all purchases at Clark’s made between Nov. 19 and Dec. 31 would have been refunded.

It's happened twice and could have this year, said Climatologist Cliff Harris, who helps select the date for the promotion.

"It isn't that we don't have storms," he said. "It's just that they're going too far to the south."

The snowpack covering California’s mountains is off to one of its best starts in 40 years, officials recently said. The National Weather Service reported Monday that at least 8 inches of rain fell over 12 hours in areas of California, causing flooding and landslides and the death toll was 12 to 14.

"They had two big storms," Harris said. "They just didn't hit us, which is rare. We didn't get anything."

Had those storms that slammed California rolled into North Idaho, he said there would have easily been more than 5 inches of snow Saturday.

While the Let It Snow campaign came up short, it still boosted business and spirits over the Christmas shopping season, Clark said.

Clark’s is a family-owned independent jewelry store that's been around since 1907 and is still at its original location, 307 Sherman Ave. Three generations of Clarks have worked there.

"It creates a nice, fun atmosphere," Clark said. "It's something we can do that's a little different."

More than three-quarters of a million dollars has been refunded in the two years when enough snow has fallen, with refunds from $25 to $30,000.

Clark said they work with Harris on selecting a date that offers a good chance for success and may have just missed.

"This weekend it will probably snow a foot," he said. "Cliff is usually pretty close."

Harris said Jan. 7 was chosen because it was in the middle of a full moon cycle.

He said after the third-snowiest and coldest fall on record, he was surprised the area hasn't received more snow lately.

Harris said it was the third time since 1895 that Coeur d'Alene didn't receive any snow or rain the first week of January.

Clark said they will probably try again next Christmas, depending on what they can work out with an insurance carrier.

"The first time we hit it, they wouldn't even talk to me for a couple of years," Clark added, laughing.

It came close last year, when it was set for Jan. 11. Plenty of snow fell around that date, but not on it.

The promotion was caught up in a dispute a few years ago.

It offered Clark's customers who made purchases between Nov. 22 and Dec. 31, 2019, refunds if it snowed more than 3 inches on Jan. 11, 2020, in Coeur d’Alene.

Harris measured 3.6 inches of snow in that 24-hour window.

But the insurance company declined to pay the claim after using measurement data provided by Illinois-based Weather Command, which recorded 1.8 inches of snow that day.

Later, the insurance company changed course and covered the policy that paid out an estimated $500,000.

Clark said what he loves about the promotion is that more than one person wins.

"We're all in it together," he said.

After a cold snap that saw temperatures go subzero a few days before Christmas, it's warmed up, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s.

He said there was 16 inches of snow on the ground on Christmas. Today, only 3 inches remain.

"This is a false spring," Harris said.

He said there could be a heavy snowfall next week.

The good news, he added, is that the warmer weather has likely meant lower heating bills.

"More than enough to pay for some jewelry," he said.