Pullman notches record high temp

January brought both record low and record high temperatures to north central Idaho and southeastern Washington.

Lewiston and Pullman set record highs Monday. Lewiston topped out at a balmy 63 degrees with mostly sunny skies and Pullman hit 57 degrees. The marks beat the previous high temp records of 58 and 54 degrees, respectively, set in 2018.

That’s a massive swing between the monthly high and low temperatures for both towns. On Jan. 13, Lewiston saw a low of minus 10 and Pullman hit minus 21. Both marks were records for the day.

The average Jan. 13 high and low for Lewiston is 44 and 31. The average marks for Pullman are 39 for a high and 29 for a low.

The forecast calls for more above-average temperatures today and Wednesday, then gives way to rain later in the week. Even with the moisture, temperatures are likely to be above average, said National Weather Service meteorologist Krista Carrothers at Spokane.

Snowpack in the mountains that feeds rivers in the region continued to lag behind average. On Monday, snow in the mountains of the Clearwater River basin registered a snow-water equivalent that was just 61% of average.

The Salmon River was a tad better at 69%. The Blue and Wallowa mountains in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon had a snow pack measuring 80% of average.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.