It's official: Summer is here
Kayakers on Lake Coeur d'Alene cruise past the Mudgy Moose statue at Independence Point on Wednesday.
BILL BULEY/Press file
COEUR d'ALENE — Today is the first day of summer, and the longest day of the year, and it mercifully puts the finishing touches on what has been one of the coldest spring endings on record.
"We need a warmup here," said climatologist Cliff Harris on Wednesday.
The average June temperature so far has been 61 degrees, 6 degrees lower than normal. The temperature dipped into the high 30s for several recent nights and even left frost in some places around Coeur d'Alene.
"That's very unusual this late into June," Harris said.
Normal June rainfall is 1.93 inches in Coeur d'Alene, and it's already at 1.71. Normal yearly rainfall is 26.77, and it's at 13.37, with nearly 4 inches of rain coming in the last two months.
The warmest day in June was 83 degrees June 8.
But Harris said with the arrival of summer, rain and cold should finally give way to sunshine and warmth. He said it should be above 70 degrees today and Friday, and above 80 degrees for the weekend. Conditions for Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene looks good, with sunny skies.
He expects about 25 days of around 90 degrees or above this summer.
The temperature of Lake Coeur d'Alene was 62 degrees Wednesday, according to www.omniafishing.com.
Harris said the days will start getting shorter after today's summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the shortest night.
He said it's starting to get light these days about 4 a.m. and will remain light out until a little after 9 p.m. Officially, according to sunrise-sunset.org, the sun will rise on Coeur d'Alene at 4:46 a.m. and set at 8:50 p.m. providing more than 16 hours of daylight.