Snow leads to canceled lessons and poor road conditions

By Sydney Brown, Adam Shanks, Emma Epperly and Garrett Cabeza

The speaker review

A storm that brought several inches of snow to the northwest of the country forced the closure of several schools, sealed mountain passes connecting east and west Washington, and treacherous driving on Thursday.

Today, high winds could tear down branches and cause blackouts for residents from north Idaho to central Washington.

Charlotte Dewey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane, said 5.4 inches fell at Spokane International Airport at 4 p.m. Thursday, but many places were receiving more. For example, a reading in Spokane Valley was 7 inches, she said.

Most Spokane County’s school districts have canceled classes. However, East Valley and Spokane decided to open with a delay.

In the afternoon the snow storm lost some of its intensity, although sporadic snow fell for the rest of the day.

The snow turned into rain and freezing rain Thursday night, potentially resulting in “very slippery” roads for Friday morning driving when the rain froze overnight, Dewey said.

She said the roads shouldn’t be as bad as they were on Thursday morning.

The NWS issued a wind warning on Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the areas of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Palouse and for places like Moses Lake and Wenatchee as far as Central Washington. Wind speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour and gusts of up to 50 are expected.

The notice said gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects.

Dewey said power outages and tree damage are a “high possibility”, especially given the amount of snow and water that fell Thursday. The wind could also make driving difficult, especially for larger vehicles, the report said.

Dewey said there is less chance of blowing or driving snow as the rain is likely to make the snow muddier.

Expect rain on Friday morning and early afternoon with a high of 41 in Spokane, then a possible brief rain-snow mix in the afternoon, Dewey said.

She said it appears the area will be on a break from snow and rain this weekend, with temperatures high around 30s and lows around 20.

Despite significant snowfalls, the city of Spokane did not have to close roads on Thursday morning, according to the city administration, and there were no significant number of accidents.

The challenge on the city streets on Thursday morning was less smoothness than the sheer amount of snow.

“It’s just deep snow that is difficult to penetrate, especially if you have a flat vehicle,” said city spokeswoman Kirstin Davis.

City crews have been working around the clock since Wednesday, Davis said as they began deicing the city streets and clearing old snow to make way for Thursday’s storm.

In heavy rain, it could melt and clear the snow on the city streets. But if the rain is brief or insignificant it could leave a mess that will freeze again and create new problems for the road workers. Rain could also saturate the snow and make it heavier, increasing the time it takes city plows to clear the road.

The focus, at least in the morning, was on plowing arterial roads and busy roads, including those near hospitals. The city announced that enough snow has fallen for their plows to clear residential streets once the arteries are completely clear.

“They’re on main routes and they’re just going to keep doing them,” Davis said Thursday morning. “You’re done with it and it’s basically time to start all over again because so much is coming.”

The Spokane Public Schools opened two hours late. Opening schools for plows was not expected to be a significant operational challenge, Davis said.

The Spokane County’s public works department said plows would keep the main arteries clear on Thursday, according to an early Thursday morning press release. The crews planned to work well into the evening to start plowing back roads. According to the press release, the crews assume that they will be able to start plowing residential areas by the weekend.

Difficult road conditions were a factor in some early Thursday morning accidents, said Washington State Patrol trooper Ryan Senger. While there were a few slides and vehicles blocking the lane, there weren’t any significant collisions at 7 a.m., he said.

“It’s smooth,” said Senger. “I would say covered in snow in most places.”

Senger urged drivers to stay at home if possible.

“If you don’t go to work or you don’t have to be on the streets, don’t try,” Senger said. “If you need to go out, increase your following distance. Slow down as the road conditions change. “

Senger also reminded the drivers to avoid vehicles and cars in an accident on the hard shoulder or in the ditch.

When the Spokane snowfall made driving conditions treacherous, many other areas were “hammered”, Bodnar said.

The major mountain passes over the Cascades in Washington – Snoqualmie, Stevens and White – were closed on Thursday. The passports are unlikely to open until Sunday, the Washington State Department of Transportation said. The weather service warned of the danger of avalanches in large parts of Washington.

The second best connection between Seattle and Spokane, Interstate 84 in Oregon, was closed on Thursday night due to a landslide. The Oregon Department of Transportation tweeted around 5:30 p.m. that there was no estimated time for the reopening. Traffic to the west is open on the motorway.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, Dewey said the Wenatchee NWS received reports between 19 and 26 inches, Leavenworth was 24-33 inches, and Methow Valley was 17 to 20 inches.

Check the Washington State Department of Transportation website before making long-distance travel, Bodnar said.

“You see about 2 inches about every hour,” said Bodnar. “Expect winter driving conditions.”

Although Thursday’s snowfall was significant, Dewey said he didn’t break the record for the day. Most of the snow received in Spokane on a January 6th in 1950 was 10.4 inches, Bodnar said.

Spokane has received about 7 inches more snow than normal this year, which is about 16 inches, Bodnar said. 17.7 inches were reported between December 1, 2020 and January 6, 2021.

During the same period of that year, Spokane had 23.2 inches of snowfall, he said.

The storm also led to power outages for some residents.

Inland Power and Light reported around 7 a.m. Thursday that more than 600 customers were without power, mostly in northeast Spokane County and southwest Bonner County. That number was reduced to 35 customers in Whitman, Garfield, Spokane, and Bonner counties around 6 p.m.

Avista Utilities reported nearly 200 customers with no power, mostly near Sandpoint, around 7:00 AM. At 6:00 p.m., 421 customers in Colville were without power and eight customers in the Wilbur area were affected.

The Pend Oreille Public Utilities District reported 300 customers without power and only one customer was without power at 6 p.m.

Northern Lights reported 45 customers in northern Idaho and western Montana. That number rose to 629 on Thursday evening.