One day, the blazing hot sun, and the next, the rain pours harder than half of the river flow.
North Idaho weather is wild. It changes in the blink of an eye. From snow to sun and cloudy to clear, the weather changes from great to severe.
Typically, in North Idaho, there are four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter.
However, over the past couple of years, there has been a significant amount of change in the weather.
Generally, in the spring, a person in North Idaho would expect rain until the start of June, with a few lovely days. However, just last month, some days reached 70 degrees, which happened for about a week straight. This is not very common in Northern Idaho and was a surprise.
While it may have been a pleasant surprise, it was unexpected and concerning.
It is concerning because the weather has been changing an overloading amount in the past couple of years with concise notice. It is also different from what happens typically, which makes it difficult to plan events.
For example, in 2022, it started snowing at a track meet of Lakeland vs. Post Falls at Post Falls Middle School. While it was expected to rain, the snow was not at all expected and took everyone by surprise. However, the snow diminished because it was not freezing outside, but it was still different from what was expected.
Winter weather in the spring can be a common occurrence since spring comes right after winter. However, when it happens in the middle of spring, it can cause concern. The colder weather is not suitable for sports or agriculture.
In the summer of 2023, the high temperatures in Idaho hit well over the 90s and into the 110s for over a month. These high temperatures were devastating for farmers, athletes and anyone who was outside.
Combined with a “mild” winter and a dry spring, it made the summer dry, affecting the population with a dry summer and drought.
“The summer last year was very dry. It made it so that we had to check on our goats every couple of hours to make sure that they were not going to get heat stroke or exhaustion,” said Matthew Greene, a Lakland High School sophomore.
The spring before the summer of 2023 had much to do with that. The spring had 8.63″ less rain than the standard 13.66” in 1991-2020. According to The National Weather Service, this was the 4th driest summer and the driest since 1976.
A dry spring, mild winter and hot summer and fall are all things that are not common in Idaho. They have all changed in the past few years and only seem to worsen. With the summer approaching and it already seeming like a dry spring, it will be interesting to see how dry this summer is.