How wet can it get?
Jackie Hocking, of Coeur d'Alene, takes a picture of Post Falls Dam at Falls Park in 2017.
COEUR d’ALENE — The last time Kootenai County saw this kind of precipitation in February, locals were heading to the movie theaters to see the premiere of Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio.”
As of Monday at 4 p.m., the region was sitting at 6.54 inches of precipitation for February, topping a record set in 1940 of 6.49 inches. Press meteorologist Randy Mann said with heavy rains expected to continue into the evening, the new record would only climb.
This February, Mann added, has seen heavy rainfall. To illustrate the point, he said the 2.19 inches of rainfall over a period of three days last week surpassed the region’s monthly precipitation average.
It’s the second time in recent months precipitation records have been shattered. In October, Mann said, the 8.8 inches of rain also set a record.
More rain is expected throughout the week, with temperatures starting to dip into the 30s by the end. According to Mann, the arrival of March will once again bring snow to the area.
“It’s going to feel like what we went through in December and January: frigid and cold,” Mann said, adding that temperatures could reach single digits. “Then it will warm up on the other side.”
That expected warm weather, Mann said, will have an impact on the snowpack in higher elevations.
“There is a ton of snow still in the mountains. It’s a huge base that we’re going to add on to next week,” Mann said. “If it slips to the warmer side, we’ll most definitely hear about flooding.”