Endless winter in North Idaho?

When Kinzie Ridgewell and Hannah Harmelink started their walk along Coeur d’Alene's waterfront Monday afternoon, it was sunny, with blue skies and 45 degrees.

Before they finished, clouds rolled in, an icy wind whipped off Lake Coeur d’Alene and snow was coming down.

Winter is alive and well in North Idaho.

“We were not prepared,” Ridgewell said.

The mini-blizzard in early April is to be expected, Harmelink said.

“To be honest, this is what it does every year, so I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said. “But I think every year, we’re always like, ‘Oh, it’s happening again.’”

While normal temperatures in early April are highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s, Monday’s high was 40 and the low was 29.

“That’s awful cold for early April,” said climatologist Cliff Harris. “That's about where we should be in early March.”

He agreed with the general consensus that it has been a long, seemingly endless winter.

“We can now say we've had snow from early November until early April,” he said.

There has yet to be a 60-degree day in Coeur d'Alene this year, but Harris expects one later this week.

“Believe it or not, I do believe we're going to get warmer,” he said. “It would be nice to see our first 60-degree day.”

However, the heatwave won’t last.

Harris expects it to rain and said a storm system in the Gulf of Alaska could reach North Idaho in about 10 days. And yes, that would mean cold and snow.

“It is a long winter,” Harris said. “One of the longest on record."

A Coeur d’Alene resident named Brian found cover from Monday's storm under the gazebo at City Park.

“I’ve seen it far worse and far better,” he said.

He said he’s lived here for nearly 50 years, so April snow comes with the territory.

Brian said Coeur d’Alene’s weather is generally lousy until July, anyway.

“When July 4 hits, it clears up,” he said.

Ridgewell took some solace in that it was only snowing on Monday.

“At least it’s not hail,” she said.