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I've experienced six years of north Idaho winters. My memory is not exactly what it once was, but I don't seem to recall a winter like this one. Is my recollection faulty? Is this winter a lot milder than typical? Since it's mid-December, has the "real" winter not arrived yet? Did a strong "el nino" predict this or the opposite? Or climate change? Or is the slow but steady 26,000-year axial precession of the equinoxes having some cumulative effect? All of the above?
It started later, but I would not call it milder. We are plenty frozen where I am and we have had several snowstorms.
One thing about the weather in Idaho, it is not going to be the same as before because it is so changeable. You can't make a firm plan, thinking you know what you are going to get.
My seventh winter here. Different this year. Precipitation seems to be less, but temps about "normal". Humidity seems higher, despite the lower precipitation. It's one of the effect of El Niño, which is stronger this year than anytime in the past decade.
Temps up here in north bench are a little higher than normal and the frozen precip is below normal. As volosong said, it's an El Niño year so expect the unexpected. LOL
On March 4th the high temperature was 70 degrees. That is still the record for that date.
That summer I had a fire in the fireplace on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.
That winter CDA Lake froze over as the temperature dropped to MINUS 25 and stayed there for a long period of time. More than one-third of the homes in CDA had their water lines frozen until March!!
Don't remember much about the following summer, but Christmas Day 1979 was memorable. It was 59 degrees.
In the 1980's it was colder than the weather these days. I remember one summer that NEVER showed up and driving to Tri-Cities for the weekend to warm up in JULY.
One reason we moved away from CDA was the awful weather.
Live in Wenatchee now, but it is still part of the same weather pattern.
The big change from the 1970's is the seasons are shifting over by a month. The falls are drier and warmer than in the past. The springs are colder and wetter. Winter temps have been milder, really have not noticed a shift in summer temperatures.
Generally, the ANNUAL weather in the Inland Northwest tends to ALWAYS be NORMAL. But that usually means a warm summer is usually followed by a cold winter and vice-versa. The shift between spring and fall weather is very real. In the late 1970's and 80's I would be playing golf and fishing in the Columbia Basin on President's Day.
These days President's Day means a snowstorm. Though I do remember a memorable snowstorm during that period of time in CDA. Snowed so much they closed I-90 in Washington. It was the day we got married in CDA.
The summer that never came. Maybe it got to 70 a couple times. overcast every day. We were living in Sanders beach area and had a fire in the fireplace 3-4 days a week all summer then back into winter.
Winter can vary lots. Just plan on ice by Halloween and no consistent warm weather until after the 4th of July. If it's better than that then it's a good year.
Of coarse we have had hail and snow during the 4th of July parade as well.
Another guide as 509 stated is a warm/hot summer generally means a colder winter.
There really is no normal. Mainly 8 months of cold and a long enough summer to prepare for winter.
This will be our 8th winter here. I am a bit of a weather geek, so I have very detailed temp and precipitation data for most of that time. These observations are from east Sagle, so your area may be different.
First, regarding precipitation, November and December have both been fairly wet. November ended up at 130% of normal, and December is already at 128% of normal as of today (the 18th). Note that when I speak about precipitation snow is included based on its water content, not the inches of snow on the ground. We've only had about 12" of snow to date, which is less than most years as of this date. Last year was a particularly good year for early snowfall, with 32" by Dec 18th.
Both Nov and Dec have been somewhat warmer than average, particularly the daytime high temps. It's only by a few degrees though, so not a huge difference. Enough though that most of our precip has come as rain instead of snow.
From a skier's perspective, I'd say it's a little worse than normal, but not by a huge amount. Last winter was the first winter when Schweitzer had enough snow in December to entice us up there before the new year. In all the other winters we've not skied until January, and it looks like that will be the case this year as well.
BTW, a strong el Nino generally means warmer winters for the northwest, so the weather so for this winter is in keeping with what I'd expect in an el Nino year.
BTW, a strong el Nino generally means warmer winters for the northwest, so the weather so for this winter is in keeping with what I'd expect in an el Nino year.
Same with the Southwest, Dave. Wetter, but warmer.
Idaho has always cycled between El Niño and La Niña weather, but ever since the dawn of this century, the cycle has become shorter, with fewer years of transition between one and the other.
In the 20th century, but weather patterns would last for several years with long periods of transition that was neither one nor the other. Now, the cycle swing seems to only be 3-4 years, where in the past a decade was more typical.
It's only snowed once in Boise so far. Definitely warmer than any winter since I've been here.
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