2015 was a sleighride of wild extremes

Around this time in January, Cliff Harris provides our readers with a look back at the wild weather for the previous year. He recorded many unusual events in 2015 at his station on Player Drive, so he was kind enough to do this again so I could enjoy a few days off during the holiday season. Here is his review. — Randy Mann

***

There were many wild weather extremes locally in 2015 that began with a mild “open” winter season with very little snowfall across North Idaho.

Small groundfires began as early as February and continued to break out during a warm and dry spring, creating a tinder box situation for the soon to be fire-ravaged, drought-parched summer of 2015.

Forest and fire officials issued “red flag warnings” in the late spring and early summer period. Strict fire restrictions were put in place throughout the region. Campfires were forbidden.

But, on July 5, the first large fire in the area was discovered on Cape Horn near Bayview before it was finally contained. More than 1,300 acres had burned along with several homes.

Throughout the rest of the unusually hot and dry summer season, there were disastrous fires throughout northern Idaho and neighboring eastern Washington. Thousands of acres went up in smoke and many homes and businesses were consumed by mountains of flames.

The dense smoke from the huge wildfires in Washington and southwestern Canada resulted in our skies being darkened for days on end by a thick veil of haze that partially blotted out the sun. Many local Kootenai County residents complained of sore throats and coughs.

Several thousand people from more than a dozen churches began praying for rain in late July and August when our fire danger levels reached 1910 stages of extreme intensity. Fortunately, by September and October, things turned cooler and considerably wetter across the Inland Northwest.

Just how hot and dry was our blistering summer of 2015? To begin with, the June through August period was the fourth hottest since at least 1895, the inception of local area regular weather-keeping in Coeur d’Alene.

Our hottest summer occurred in 1967 with a sweltering average high temperature of 92.8 degrees. That was followed by a torrid 89.1 degrees in 1961 and 86.9 degrees in 1938. The summer of 2015 came in with a toasty 85.3 degrees.

There were six afternoons during the summer of 2015 with triple-digit temperatures, occurring in June, July and August.

June not only had the season’s hottest day of 105 degrees on “Ironman Sunday,” June 28, but also logged the highest average maximum reading for June since at least 1895 at 84 degrees compared to the normal of 75 degrees. This past June also had a 100-degree afternoon on Saturday, June 27.

There were three afternoons in July with triple-digit readings and one in August. There were 39 days during the summer season with 90 degrees or above.

Not only was it extremely hot during the summer of 2015, but the entire rainfall from June 2 through Oct. 6, more than a four-month period, was just 1.30 inches. That compared to the normal 5.50 inches for the time span. Only 1929 with a scant .64 inches for the same period and the big fire year of 1910 with .83 inches were drier since 1895.

The big weather story of November of 2015 was not one of heavy rains and snows, but of damaging winds.

At 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, the weather station on Player Drive in Coeur d’Alene recorded an all-time record wind gust of 68 miles per hour! Near-hurricane force winds were clocked in the Spokane area, knocking down hundreds of trees and signs. In some areas, the power was out for more than a full week. Frozen foods without refrigeration perished. People huddled around fireplaces and wood stoves for warmth.

But, then came the so-called Snowpocalypse of December 2015 with a near-record 37.2 inches of snow, more than the 36.5 inches of all last winter. An incredible 7.24 inches of liquid precipitation ended our prolonged drought and pushed our 2015 rainfall total up to 26.44 inches, a tad below the 20-year normal of 26.77 inches.

This past December was the fourth wettest on record, exceeded only by the 9.91-inch total in 1933, 7.86 inches in 1907 and 7.85 inches in 1964.

December 2015, despite being almost snowless during the first half of the month, gauged the most snowfall ever measured in Coeur d’Alene during the second half of the last month of the year. But, the 87.4 inches logged in December 2008, when many buildings collapsed, will probably live in “meteorological infamy,” never to be topped again.

***

Thanks, Cliff, for the information. In terms of our near-term weather, the first part of January has started out drier than normal and cold across the Inland Northwest. As mentioned earlier, we’ve likely seen the heaviest snows of the winter season in December, but we have a chance of another round of snow toward the end of this month, near the “full moon” cycle beginning on Jan. 23. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some rain mixing in with the snow in the lower elevations.

We’re starting to see a more typical El Nino pattern as moderate to heavy rainfall has been falling in California. For the rest of the winter season, precipitation totals here in the Inland Northwest should be near to below normal as many of the Pacific storm systems will go to the south of our region. Temperatures should also become more normal later this month and into February, as milder air eventually works its way into North Idaho.

Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com