Snow and fireballs

by KEITH COUSINS/Staff writer
| November 6, 2015 8:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE — Rain and snow are poised to play atmospheric tug-of-war throughout the month of November.

Meteorologist Randy Mann told The Press Thursday weather patterns in the region have become active. Higher elevations will start seeing a heavy dose of snowfall as early as the end of next week, according to Mann.

"We've got a shot at measurable snow even down here," Mann said, adding lower elevations are likely to get some wet snow if the temperature is low enough.

El Nino, a climatic event that occurs every two years and affects weather patterns around the globe, is set to begin influencing weather patterns in the Northwest. Once that passes through, Mann said warm temperatures with high chances of rain could be followed by snowfall.

Mann added the light, wet, snowfall the region saw on Thursday afternoon was a prime example of how the weather could shake out for the rest of the month.

"It's too warm to get anything measurable now," Mann said on Thursday afternoon. "But depending on how the rest of today goes, it's possible some will stick."

The back and forth weather patterns will continue through the month, making a white Thanksgiving hard to predict.

"I would say the chances of that are 50/50," Mann said.

In other weather related news, the AccuWeather Global Weather Center issued a press release this week reporting that cosmic fireballs will occasionally light up the night sky as the Taurid meteor shower approaches its peak next week.

"Every year, the Earth passes through a stream left by Comet Encke, producing the Taurid meteor shower," AccuWeather Meteorologist Dave Samuhel said in the release. "This shower is notorious for producing fireballs, and there are signs that this could be a year of enhanced activity."

Fireballs, according to the release, are extremely bright meteors that last for several seconds and can light up an entire countryside when they are at their brightest.

The release states the best time for viewing the Taurids may be near the end of the shower's peak, during the new moon.