Just wait ... Boston's record snows will be seen here around 2020!

Before I detail the RECORD BOSTON AREA SNOWS of this blizzard-wracked winter of 2014-15 in the northeastern corner of the nation, I first want to 'clear up' the supposed mystery of the 'milky rains' locally that occurred on Friday morning, Feb. 8.

No, I wasn't 'stumped' by the rather brief, but muddy downpours that made car wash owners deliriously happy! I've seen these 'dirty rains' before, on many occasions. In 1991, while living in Hayden on St. James Place off of Lancaster Road, an even worse 'mud storm' was noted in my weather records. It was so bad that I had to have my house 'power washed'!

Whenever we see a super strong 'PINEAPPLE CONNECTION' from Hawaii slam into the West Coast with hurricane-force plus winds clocked in the dusty, desert areas like Nevada, eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, we often see that dust pushed to the northeast into our part of the country where it 'mixes in' with the rain showers, hence a 'mudstorm.' There is no mystery here, weatherwise and otherwise!

Now on to the record Boston snows in the past several weeks that seem to be 'relentless,' one BLIZZARD AFTER ANOTHER in rapid succession. The city has 'run out of room' to store the snow!

More than FIVE FEET of the white stuff had been measured in the past month alone at Boston's Logan Airport as of this writing on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Two additional snowstorms were poised to slam into the Boston area between Feb. 12 and Presidents' Day, Feb. 16, when this 'GEMS' column will be printed in the Press.

Remember these record snows, weather fans, because it will be 'our turn' to DIG OUT again like in 2007-08 and 2008-09 by the end of this decade, when we become entrenched in a COLD, SNOWY 'LA NINA' sea-surface ocean temperature event in the chilled waters of the eastern Pacific regions.

I still see approximately 200 inches of snow falling during either the winter of 2019-20 or the next season in 2020-21. I see more building collapses and other assorted snow-related problems in Coeur d'Alene and the rest of the Inland Empire. The expected 200-inch winter snowfall would easily smash the 2007-08 standing record of 172.9 inches in town. We need to prepare for this extremely harsh winter well ahead of its possible occurrence.

In the meantime, enjoy what's left of this extremely mild winter of 2014-15. Last Sunday, Feb. 8, we observed a record 57 degrees in Coeur d'Alene, which smashed the previous record of 52 degrees for the date in 1998 by 5 full degrees. Even the piles of snow are gone, weeks ahead of schedule. Many winter sports enthusiasts are UNHAPPY to say the least.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE UPDATES

As of this Friday morning writing, Feb. 13, the first two weeks of this month had been the warmest such period on record locally, more than 10 degrees above normal, since at least 1895, when local daily weather record-keeping began in Coeur d'Alene. We easily beat out both February of 1924 and February of 1971 for extreme warmth.

It's been so snowless and mild that the Avondale Golf Club in Hayden was able to open on Thursday, Feb. 12, at the earliest date since the course opened in 1968, 47 years ago. Prairie Falls Golf Course in Post Falls opened in late January!

The first half of February 2015 had produced six afternoons in the April-like 50s, including a record high of 57 degrees on Feb. 8 and a near-record 57 degrees again on Feb. 12, which just missed the record for the date of 58 degrees set 91 years ago in 1924.

The only snow this month in town occurred on Sunday, Feb. 1. Rainfall, however, as of early Friday had been a bit above normal for the month at 1.98 inches, thanks to the warm, moist "Pineapple Connection" from Hawaii linked with a dying 'El Nino' event in the eastern Pacific Ocean waters.

We must be prepared, though, for cooler temperatures and the chance of snow showers in late February and early March, as the Pacific waters continue to chill. I wouldn't take my snow tires off for at least another month just to be safe.

Have a great Presidents' Day!

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com