Climate in NID/Coeur d'Alene (Post Falls, Hayden: live, vs, airports)

[jrmh76]

So I have been considering a move to the CDA area and was wanting more local accounts of the climate in the area beyond what the all knowing Internet reveals. Various websites including this one, as well Sperlings Best Places and Wikipedia among others list CDA/Post Falls rainfall averaging anywhere between 25-29 inches. Area Vibes, however, varies the most in listing CDA rainfall as being closer to that of Spokane, only thirty miles to the west, at having right around 16 inches. Which is correct? Logic suggests that CDA should closely mirror Spokane's rainfall averages due its geographic proximity, yet most other reputable sources say that CDA has significantly higher rainfall than Spokane. How is that possible? What causes such a large increase over such a short distance? Can anyone who lives there give me a more accurate climate report?

[Disciple1975]

CDA is probably close to Spokane but gets a little more. If you go north of CDA though, once you get past Hayden and especially Athol, you will get noticeably more precipitation including snow. Elevation has a lot to do with it as well.

[Cnynrat]

I was going to say that CdA is a little higher than Spokane, and has more surrounding mountains as well. Both of those factors will tend to wring a little more moisture out of the weather systems as they move across the area.

[ShadoAngel]

The information on the Wikipedia pages is sourced from NOAA and official weather stations, many of them airports. The data stretches back decades.

Annual precipitation *is* higher in CDA and has everything to do with geography. Right outside CDA the elevation starts to climb. Air has to climb to get over those mountains, so it rises. As it rises, the air cools and moisture condenses - causing precipitation. It's a less dramatic version of what happens on the west side of the Cascade mountains. If you look at a satellite image of the Inland Northwest, you can clearly see the higher elevation areas that catch additional rain and snow that are green and forested vs the drier Columbia Plateau region that is lower in elevation and is predominately farmland now (it was prairie grasslands before being settled.)

[Disciple1975]

Originally Posted by ShadoAngel

The information on the Wikipedia pages is sourced from NOAA and official weather stations, many of them airports.

Annual precipitation *is* higher in CDA and has everything to do with geography. Right outside CDA the elevation starts to climb. Air has to climb to get over those mountains, so it rises. As it rises, the air cools and moisture condenses - causing precipitation. It's a less dramatic version of what happens on the west side of the Cascade mountains. If you look at a satellite image of the Inland Northwest, you can clearly see the higher elevation areas that catch additional rain and snow that are green and forested vs the drier Columbia Plateau region that is lower in elevation and is predominately farmland now (it was prairie grasslands before being settled.)

Very good points, and Post Falls for example is even closer to Spokane in terms of precipitation than CDA because it is further from the mountains.

[jrmh76]

Originally Posted by Disciple1975

Very good points, and Post Falls for example is even closer to Spokane in terms of precipitation than CDA because it is further from the mountains.

That's interesting because both Sperlings Best Places and Wikipedia list PF as having more rain than CDA.