Thursday, March 28, 2024
39.0°F

Sunshine on your shoulders

| April 26, 2018 1:00 AM

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — Friday's high is expected to reach the big 8-0.

Spoiler alert: It won’t last.

Clouds and rain are predicted to return this weekend, and the highs are expected to reach weakly into the 50s early next week, Press meteorologist Randy Mann said.

"One and done, then the bottom falls out," said Mann, referring to the 80-degree tease. "We're going to see a big change."

Looking ahead to the summer, Mann said he expects it to be drier than normal.

"To start yelling ‘drought!’ is premature, but it will be dry," he said. "It's going to rain less, but not be rainless. Hopefully the rain we've had this spring that will create foliage won't later affect fire season too much."

Some water districts and cities are asking patrons to be "water wise" with conservation common sense.

John Beacham, Post Falls utilities manager, said even in 2015 and 2016, when there was relatively low summer rainfall and winter snowpack, the city did not experience any water supply issues with the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, the region's water source.

However, the city asks residents to adhere to its ordinance that states citizens should not water outside (new plants and newly seeded lawns excluded) from noon to 6 p.m.

Odd-numbered addresses are asked to water on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; even-numbered on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

"The city is not looking to stop kids from using the Slip n' Slide or keep citizens from watering their new plants," the water measure states. "We're just asking them to conserve water during the hottest part of the day when irrigation does the least amount of good."

Beacham said the city plans to operate the same program this year.

"This program has dual goals of being good stewards of our natural resources and minimizing the costs associated with additional capital projects due to increased water usage," he said.

Ron Wilson, manager of the East Greenacres Irrigation District, which serves a portion of Post Falls and the prairie, said his district, which features a lot of farmers, realizes it can't impose restrictions on watering crops. However, it encourages residential users to be conservation-minded during the day, when the evaporation rate is high.

In its recent newsletter, the Ross Point Water District asked patrons to not water from noon to 6 p.m.