Tardy winter may show up after all

Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
·2 min read

Jan. 4—Winter weather may finally make an appearance — better late than never — starting with snow later this week and followed by the possibility of frigid temperatures seven days later.

The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley is unlikely to see much if any snow but the Palouse and the Camas Prairie should get a few inches and the Blue Mountains and Clearwater Mountains may see up to 10 inches.

Jon Fox of the National Weather Service at Spokane said storms starting Friday evening and lasting through Sunday morning may disturb what has thus far been a mild winter.

"A fairly robust weather system will move through and it's going to lower the snow level," he said.

The Palouse and Camas Prairie are forecast to receive 1 to 3 inches of snow while the mountains could get 5 to 10 inches.

That could be followed by a second storm system arriving as early as Sunday evening and lasting through Wednesday.

"We expect that it is going to be a colder system and it could produce slightly higher amounts (of snow) than the first one and there is a chance of snow in Lewiston," Fox said.

Fox said snow in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley is unlikely to stick around. But snow in the mountains will be welcome. The mountains that feed the Clearwater River and its tributaries are holding a snowpack that measures just 44 percent of average. The Salmon River Basin is at 53 percent of average. Many of the river basins in Washington and Oregon are just as starved for snow.

"It's been an extremely mild winter so far," Fox said.

The river breaks surrounding the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley are unusually green for January and the young sprouts of winter wheat on Palouse and Camas Prairie farms are largely unprotected by blankets of snow.

Fox said a longer range forecast shows the mild temperatures of late may give way to highs well below freezing starting about Jan. 12.

"We are likely to see the coldest air we have seen this winter," he said.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.