Snow to follow record cold

The frigid temperatures are starting to sound like a broken record.

Climatologist Cliff Harris said more cold weather records have been broken, including on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Harris said the temperature in Coeur d'Alene dipped to 7-below at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. The previous low was 4 degrees in 1985.

The temperature on Wednesday morning went as low as 9-below at 2:33 a.m., beating the previous record of minus-2 in 1985.

Wednesday's high was 10, beating the previous record of 18 in 1985.

"It's been dangerously cold," Harris said. "Keep your pets inside."

Today is expected to be warmer with a low of near zero and a high in the low 20s. The record low for today is 2 in 1985.

"We'll give that a run, but with some clouds coming in, it's going to warm up just a bit," Harris said.

A snowstorm is expected to arrive tonight and last into Friday night or Saturday morning, dumping 4 to 6 inches of snow.

"That will put us past 20 inches for the year, surpassing the total of 18.4 during all of last winter," Harris said.

Temperatures will continue to climb through the weekend, reaching the mid-20s to lower 30s Saturday and Sunday.

"The trip back from Grandma's house doesn't look too bad," Harris said.

Harris said the area is on track to have its longest freeze on record for November. Last year temperatures only dipped below freezing three times for the entire winter.

"We're really in an unusual weather pattern, particularly this early in the winter," Harris said.