My annual spring and summer weather outlooks

As of this late March writing, we still have a very 'weak' warm and wet 'El Nino' sea-surface temperature event lingering in the tepid waters of the east-central Pacific Ocean.

If Meteor-ologist Randy Mann and I are right, we should see a developing cooler 'La Nada,' the in-between warm El Nino and cool La Nina, sea-surface temperature cycle as the spring and summer months progress down the climatological roadway.

This 'La Nada' phase should mean that California's record drought will continue at least until the next November 2015 through April 2016 rainy season in the parched Golden State. It will likewise continue to be much warmer than normal throughout California and the Desert Southwest further aggravating the extreme drought conditions.

While the southwestern corner of the country, as well as most of the Great Plains and the western third of the Midwest Corn and Soybean Belt, stay warm and dry, which has already boosted grain prices, we, in turn, should be a little cooler and wetter than usual locally in North Idaho in April and May with possibly double the number of normal thunderstorms in the Inland Northwest. Some April snows will fall above 3,500 feet in the nearby mountains, particularly early in the 30-day period.

Longer term, it still appears as if the summer of 2015 will be a bit warmer than usual with near-normal precipitation, thanks to occasional thunderstorms, as high pressure builds into the Inland Northwest by late June or early July and remains firmly entrenched until at least mid September, maybe even into late September or early October.

For those of our subscribers interested in our normal month-by-month precipitation amounts since 1895 from April through September, I'll list them as follows:

APRIL. Normal: 1.77 inches. 2015 Predicted: 2.30 inches.

MAY. Normal: 2.37 inches. 2015 Predicted: 2.68 inches.

JUNE. Normal: 1.93 inches. 2015 Predicted: 1.87 inches.

JULY. Normal: 0.92 inches. 2015 Predicted: 1.11 inches.

AUGUST. 1.23 inches. 2015 Predicted: 1.21 inches.

SEPTEMBER. Normal: 1.48 inches. 2015 Predicted: 1.33 inches.

TOTALS. Normal: 9.70 inches. 2015 Predicted: 10.50 inches.

As far as temperatures are concerned for the upcoming summer of 2015, I see slightly warmer than usual readings in July, August and September, but it shouldn't be quite as hot as during the very warm 2014 summer season. I only see a day or two with scorching temperatures in the Coeur d'Alene area near or above the century mark, probably occurring sometime between mid July and the first week or so of August. Last summer, we observed 102 degrees on July 29, 100 degrees on July 31 and 99 degrees on Aug. 11.

There were 30 'Sholeh Days' at 90 degrees or above in the Summer of 2014. This compares to the normal of 23 such torrid days and my prediction for this upcoming Summer of 2015 of 26 'Sholeh Days.'

Like last year, it should be warm and mostly dry again this late August for the 2015 edition of the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo. (I LOVE THE FAIR!)

All and all, it should be a GREAT SUMMER IN 'CAMELOT,' weatherwise and otherwise.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

It's hard to believe that we were in the midst of a drought-prompted "burning ban" in North Idaho just a few weeks ago. Since March 14, however, we've seen DOUBLE our normal rainfall as storm after storm has drenched our part of the country.

As of 10 a.m. on Friday, our monthly total precipitation had soared to a healthy 3.52 inches in Coeur d'Alene, 1.58 inches above the 120-year normal rainfall for the entire month of March since 1895 of 1.94 inches. Last year, in March of 2014, we gauged a whopping 5.40 inches in town, the second most on record.

Our total snowfall, however, since the 2.2 inches which fell on Feb. 1, has been just 0.2 of an inch, which fell late Tuesday afternoon, the least snowfall ever during the eight-week span ending on March 27.

It's still possible that we will see a few flakes of the white stuff this April, but they should melt in a 'New York Minute.' April overall should be rather cool and wet.

On another note, I've been receiving numerous calls about my new book, "Weather and Bible Prophecy" (What Was ... What Is ... And What's To Come). The limited run and autographed copies of the first edition, will be printed and delivered in early April. There will also be a e-book edition as well. For more information, go to www.WeatherProphecy.com.

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