Here come the roaring 90s again

COEUR d’ALENE — The cool weather and rain that dropped in Sunday and Monday was a nice break from the stifling heat that has gripped North Idaho all summer — but it won’t last.

“We’re back with another heat wave coming,” Coeur d’Alene Climatologist Cliff Harris said Monday.

After a string of days over 90 degrees, Sunday’s high was 71 degrees, and Monday’s low was 46. The cold conditions arrived from the Gulf of Alaska.

“A little taste of fall,” Harris said.

It even rained for a few hours Sunday evening, .17 of an inch, which helped a bit with clearing smoke from the air and provided moisture for dry forests.

That was more than double the .08 inches of rain that had fallen since June 20 in Coeur d'Alene, but not enough to have a serious impact.

“It wasn’t a gully washer by any stretch of the imagination,” Harris said.

By Wednesday, highs are expected to top 90 again, and perhaps even go over 100 degrees Friday and into the weekend.

Harris said before summer ends, he expects that Coeur d’Alene will top 90 degrees for more than 50 days, making it the hottest summer since 1967, when it had 47 days that broke 90.

Last year, it didn't top 90 in Coeur d'Alene until July 21.

Considering the devastation fires have caused in other parts of the country and around the world, Harris said North Idaho has been fortunate.

He believes there could be one more big heat wave headed this way at the end of August or early September. Then, cooler weather should settle in as La Nina develops, he said.

“If we can get through the next four to six weeks we’ll be in pretty good shape,” Harris said.