Rain moves back in tonight – Matt

SPOKANE, Wash.– Rain is moving back into the Inland Northwest and will be staying with us long into Thursday. It won’t be raining all the time, but it’s worth having the rain gear handy in case.

Skies are already clouding over and we’ll see showers around Spokane as soon as Wednesday evening. The most intense and widespread rain is expected overnight with some snow over Stevens Pass, Lookout Pass, and in the North Cascades.

We’ll wake up to temperatures in the low 40s and wet ground. It will actually be fairly quiet in the morning with a mix of clouds and sun. As we warm up during the day, scattered showers will develop. These showers could produce a few lightning strikes and some small hail or graupel (soft fuzzy ice pellets) as they drift across our region. Coverage of these showers will be very hit-or-miss, so rain chances on Thursday are a 4 or 5 out of 10.

Temperatures on Thursday afternoon will reach the mid 50s.  As calm weather swings over the Northwest on Friday, temperatures will rise to the upper 50s and then low 60s over the weekend! This will be the longest stretch of nice weather we’ve had in a little while.