Eastern Washington cities are historically hotter and drier than their Western peers, but this year, some Eastern cities have been getting hotter sooner.
On Sunday, Spokane tied its hottest April 30 on record: 82 degrees Fahrenheit at Spokane International Airport, tied with that date in 1981. (Records have been kept in the Spokane area since 1881.)
The Spokane forecast surprised local forecasters like Jeremy Wolf of the National Weather Service in Spokane. It’s uncommon to see such high temperatures in Spokane after such a cool spring, Wolf says.
Spokane had seen its first day at or above 70 degrees only a few days earlier, April 26, when temperatures reached 71. The Inland Northwest experienced a colder-than-normal April, with temperatures 2 to 6 degrees cooler than average. The weather this past weekend was 15-20 degrees hotter than average.
“The temperatures themselves weren’t abnormally hot by summer standards, where we often are in the 90s every day, or for several days. But yes, this was still pretty warm for early in the season,” Wolf says.
The National Weather Service temperature outlook for May, June and July suggests hotter-than-average temperatures across the state, including Western Washington. The Service is also expecting temperatures in the 70s in the Seattle area on Tuesday and Wednesday. The average spring temperature for early May in Seattle is 63 to 64 degrees.
The National Weather Service issued some safety warnings for recreationists who spend time near water or melting snow. Water rushing into rivers causes them to run faster and higher; hiking or skiing in melting snow comes with a greater avalanche risk; and lakes and streams are still cool enough to cause hypothermia. Wolf says rivers have been steadily rising since the warm temperatures began, and forecasters are watching for floods this week in nearby Idaho.