Rain or snow? Looking into 6-week window

COEUR d’ALENE — A new six-week weather pattern begins today, bringing hope to snow worshippers watching Christmas rapidly approaching.

Press Climatologist Cliff Harris on Monday noted that going back to Oct. 28, the Coeur d’Alene area has been virtually snowless, with just a trace registered downtown.

“That’s 42 days snowless, which is unparalleled,” he said.

But with a new six-week period starting, those snowless days are about to end, the forecaster predicted.

With just a few degrees making all the difference between a winter wonderland and a wretched washout, Harris is predicting that the storm headed this way tonight and early tomorrow will deck the town with snow. That’s counter to the rainy forecast from the National Weather Service, he acknowledged.

“I’ll either be really wrong or right on target,” he said with a laugh.

Harris agrees the snow that falls tonight might be short-lived, with a rain-snow mix Wednesday and into Thursday at lower elevations and snow up in the mountains.

However, he said a storm reaching our region between Dec. 16 and Dec. 19 could be laden with snow — enough that there should still be some on the ground by Dec. 25, qualifying for a white Christmas.

“But I also think we might get another one Christmas Eve,” he added.

Only time will tell if he’s really wrong — or right on target.

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Snowless Sixes

The least snowy six-week periods in Coeur d’Alene starting in late October, according to weather records dating back to 1895:

2019: Trace

1940: 1.2 inches

1929: 1.6 inches

1913: 1.8 inches