SPOKANE, WASH. — Inland Northwest residents woke up to snow on Monday after about 1.5 inches fell overnight.
It's been a pretty dry December in Spokane so far, with only 1.1 inches of snow. December is climatologically the wettest month of the year in Spokane. The city normally sees a total of 2.30 inches inches of precipitation, with an average of nearly 15 inches of snow.
Spokane is certainly drier than normal going into the second week of December, but will be catching up with wet and snowy weather this week. The National Weather Service said the Inland Northwest can expect a "parade of storms" in the next week.
Below freezing temperatures and the overnight timing of the snow mean is impacting the Monday morning commute with slick roads.
The City of Spokane tweeted that deicers and sanders were out on the roads to improve conditions as of 6:30 a.m.
Snow is slowly tracking east out of the area throughout Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Light bands of snow will continue in North and Central Idaho throughout Monday morning, with the possibility for some flurries in the Palouse. A winter storm watch is in effect for areas throughout North Idaho from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The bigger storm system moves in Tuesday afternoon. The day will start off with snow, but that could change to rain or a rain/snow mix sometime during the afternoon commute into the evening hours. The area will see 1 to 3 inches of snow in the valleys and 3 to 6 inches of snow in the mountains on Tuesday.
Friday's storm system is looking even warmer right now, so it may be a valley rain situation.
Overall, the mountains across Idaho are expected to get heavy snow this week. This will help out area ski resorts and help us catch up on our important mountain snowpack.
