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March madness

by BILL BULEY
Staff Writer | March 5, 2021 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — A 95-year-old record for highest temperature in Coeur d’Alene fell Thursday.

Climatologist Cliff Harris said it hit 61 degrees, breaking the mark of 60 degrees on March 4, 1926.

The 60 degrees on Wednesday was just 1 degree short of the March 3 record of 61, also set in 1926. That’s well above the average temperature of 44 degrees for this time of year.

And today, it could be hotter, with sunny, clear skies in the forecast.

“This is supposed to be the coldest period of March, not the warmest,” Harris said Thursday afternoon.

People took advantage of the sunshine, playing at City Beach with some even dipping their toes into Lake Coeur d’Alene and its chilly 36-degree waters.

Sisters Rowyn and Hadley Black Eagle-Seres collected rocks from the shallow waters near the shoreline, then carried them out on the steps of Independence Point and launched them into the lake.

A young man, Dustin, sat on the steps and soaked up the summer-like rays, while a couple climbed around on the statue of Mudgy the Moose.

The good times should continue today. Harris said there's a chance Coeur d’Alene could break the 1968 record for March 5 of 67 degrees.

‘It’s possible, but not likely,” he said.

Still, he said this “could be the longest warm spell ever for the first seven days of March.”

Harris said despite the relative heat wave, the cold night temperatures, 26 degrees Wednesday night, and lack of precipitation should allay any flooding fears in North Idaho.

And he said conditions should return more to normal next week and it could snow in mid-March.

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BILL BULEY/Press

Rowyn Black Eagle-Seres, right, and her sister Hadley toss rocks into Lake Coeur d'Alene Thursday afternoon.