Springtime To Open With Near-Record Highs In NCW Next Week

It appears that it won't take long for residents in North Central Washington and the Columbia Basin to forget about Old Man Winter.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Spokane says daytime high temperatures in the region to start next week will be well-above widespread averages, and even close to record-setting territory in some places.

NWS meteorologist Daniel Butler says the balmy, early-season weather will be produced in part by a storm system off the Pacific Coast.

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"A strong ridge of high pressure will be establishing in the Western United States, and there's a storm system over the Pacific that'll amplify that high pressure downstream from it."

Forecasters are calling for partly to mostly sunny skies throughout the region from Monday through Wednesday with high temperatures in the upper 60s and low to mid-70s, which is about 10 to 15 degrees above normal for late March.

Tuesday's scheduled high for Wenatchee is 71 degrees, which would only be three degrees shy of the all-time record of 74 degrees set in 1960.

In the Columbia Basin, several towns are also expected to only very near their all-time highs on Tuesday, including Ephrata and Moses Lake, which are both in line to hit 73 degrees.

The ridge of high pressure creating the near-record temps is forecast to move out of the region by Thursday when daytime highs are scheduled to return to seasonal averages in the mid- to upper 50s.