After weeks of stagnate, and some would say boring weather, Mother Nature has made things very interesting to wrap up the month of May. Last week, several strong bands of showers rolled across the region, dumping anywhere from ¼” of rain on the Columbia Basin, to over 2” of rain in eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Marilyn Lohmann, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said some areas saw records for daily precipitation totals, while those in the Moses Lake and Wenatchee areas saw very few if any showers. Those showers helped many soil moisture reading, but when it comes to soil temperatures those figures have not moved much over the past two weeks.

Much of the area is reporting soil temps in the 60s with upper 50s reported on the Palouse and at the foothills of the Blues. But Lohmann anticipates those soil temps will soon change.

“We’ll probably continue to see those warm several degrees this week, as we’ve got a lot warmer temperatures coming at us toward the weekend.  In fact some almost summer like temperatures with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s by Friday and Saturday.”

While we have a taste of summer this weekend, Lohmann said cooler temperatures will return to the area as we move into the month of June.




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