Harris: One extreme to the other

COEUR d'ALENE —  Fifty-one degrees on Sunday in Coeur d'Alene doesn't sound all that amazing — until you remember it was negative 15 just two weeks ago.

That's a swing of 66 degrees.

And consider that after 8 inches of snow fell Jan. 17, only a few flakes have fallen, but plenty of rain has come down.

"We've seen weird conditions," Climatologist Cliff Harris said Monday. "But that's El Niño."

Coeur d'Alene has received only 26.6 inches of snow this year, less than half of normal for this time of year.

Sunday's 51 came close to the record high of 54 for Jan. 28, set in 1951.

Highs should be in the 40s the rest of this week before dipping into the 30s for the weekend.

Harris warned to not count winter out just yet. He said that last year, it snowed 17 inches in February, followed by 11 in March, and he sees a good chance of snow next week. He said people should get out and take advantage of this warm weather.

"Enjoy the weather, because El Niño will be gone next year, in my opinion," he said.