2017 North Idaho weather review
Last week’s article showed a lot of the wild weather that went on in 2017 across the U.S. It seemed like it was either too dry, too wet, too cold or too hot. North Idaho was no exception to the extremes we had. So what will 2018 be like? We’re already seeing more extremes, like one of the biggest East Coast storms in history last week, so probably more of the same. Cliff and I believe we’re still in this crazy cycle of wide weather “extremes” that is showing no sign in letting up anytime soon.
In Coeur d’Alene, January of 2017 started out very frigid, like the recent cold weather patterns here and across much of the U.S. From Jan. 1st through the 17th, the high temperature was below the freezing mark. During that time, the normal high temperature was only 25 degrees, or 11 degrees below normal. The average low at Cliff’s station the was only 12 degrees.
For February of 2017, our precipitation total was a record-smashing 8.01 inches, which was nearly four times of normal of 2.17 inches. That month passed the all-time February record of 6.49 inches set back in 1940. When combining February and March, Coeur d’Alene picked up a whopping 14.65 inches of rain and melted snow. That is nearly 55 percent of our annual moisture, which is 26.77 inches, in just two months and over three times the two-month normal of 4.11 inches. By the way, February and March of 2017’s combined moisture total was another new record.
There were more records smashed early last year as the first three months of the 2017 season as Coeur d’Alene received 17.48 inches of rain and melted snowfall. When March was over, it seemed like we were on pace to rival the big moisture year of 2012 when 43.27 inches was reported. But, it was close as 39.41 inches of rain and melted snow fell in 2017.
For March of 2017, Cliff measured 6.64 inches of moisture, which was the second highest March total in history. The wettest March occurred back in 2012 with 7.51 inches, compared to the normal of 1.94 inches.
We also had a record number of days with measurable precipitation in March. Out of the 31 days, 25 of them had at least 0.01 inches of moisture. The old record was 19 days in 2012. And, with the many days of rain and the 11.8 inches of snow, there was less than 20 percent of normal sunshine hours, also another record.
The 2017 fire season in the western U.S. was described as “the worst in recorded history” by many officials. Smoke had been reported across British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Areas in the central U.S. were also seeing the effects of the wildfires from Canada and the West as the upper-level winds were directing the bad air over that part of the country.
Cliff and I received many complaints and concerns from the heavy smoke. Air quality in the region was not only the worst in the country, but perhaps the worst in history here in Coeur d’Alene. On Labor Day, Sept. 4, air quality levels hit an unbelievable 303, which in in the “hazardous” category.
We had the good start with snowfall in early November with 8.8 inches. Then, it turned drier than normal. The first two weeks of December were the driest in history. From Dec. 1 - 14, only .02 inches of moisture fell, which included a puny 0.1 inches of snow. Many were concerned that we were not going to have a white Christmas.
However, things changed dramatically as a series of storms brought nearly 3 feet of snow to the Coeur d’Alene area from Dec. 15 - 30. Moisture totals were also above normal for the month. On Dec. 29, heavy snows of over 8 inches in Coeur d’Alene, combined with rain and freezing rain made travel “a virtual nightmare.”
For the start of 2018, weather patterns are showing some change. For many weeks, there has been a large north/south upper-level wind pattern that has been driving frigid air from the north deep into the nation’s midsection. It looks like that north/south gradient won’t be quite as strong later this month, allowing Pacific storms to bring more snow, and sometimes rain, to Coeur d’Alene and surrounding areas.
Therefore, January’s snowfall should pick up again around the middle of the month and Cliff and I think we may see some moderate to heavy amounts of the white stuff. February doesn’t look quite as snowy and March could stay a little wetter than average, especially if the cooler La Nina hangs on. But, once again, we’ll eventually flip to the dry side.
- • •
Contact Randy Mann at [email protected]