Two-thirds way through winter, ho-hum attitude understandable

COEUR d’ALENE — Exactly one month from the alleged end of winter, Press Climatologist Cliff Harris yawned Wednesday.

“The weather’s kind of boring,” he noted.

Taking into account the blue skies, clear pavement and coldish temperatures, he made a further observation.

“This is not the February of 2019. This is the February of 2020.”

What a difference a year can make.

Last February, a record 56 inches of snow fell. This February? About one-tenth as much, so far.

Harris predicted that the final month of winter should remain relatively boring, with perhaps 8 to 10 inches of snowfall, which would bring the season total in right near the normal 69.8 inches. It’s 60.4 inches now.

Boring might be in the eye of the beholder. Harris noted that “We’re getting sunshine, which people seem to like.” That’s in stark contrast to the full-moon week of Jan. 10-17, when 30 inches — basically half of the entire winter output — of snow fell.

“The rest of the winter’s been a piece of cake,” he said. “I think the worst … is over.”

The lowest temperature of the season was 13 degrees, which Harris called highly unusual; it usually gets colder than that, he said. With a low of 20 Wednesday morning, he warned that the daytime sun can be deceptive. “Don’t put out flowers yet,” he advised.

Looking ahead, he predicts “a little bit of rain, a little bit of snow, a little bit of wind,” particularly with a storm front expected to push through North Idaho this weekend. A bit further down the meteorological highway, Harris sees the region’s high pressure system rebuilding, leading to warmer and drier conditions from mid-April to early June.

Still, he wasn’t guaranteeing boring weather from here on out. There’s always a chance things could get exciting again, with a snow dump or two.

“That’s unlikely but it could happen,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”