By the end of the day yesterday, exhausted Idaho State Police folks in North Idaho had this report on their storm toll, headed, "Interesting happenings and thank-you's." It was a day when Coeur d'Alene recorded 25 inches of snow in 24 hours, shattering the previous record of 16 inches set back in 1955 - and the snow kept piling up after that, in some cases deeper than 30 inches. Here's the day-end note from ISP:

"51 Slide offs
2 Hit and run Crashes
6 Property damage crashes
2 Personal injury crashes
The hard working State Police Troopers have dealt with Wrong way drivers on US 95. 1 drunk driver was taken to jail after the driver hit a car and just went home; while the person that was hit followed them.  Reckless driving citations were issued for several drivers not driving safely for conditions.
A semi truck driver was parked on the side of the road when an officer approached him asking what the problem was. The driver advised the officer that his chains DID NOT FIT.
From the Idaho State Police a big Thank you to all the businesses that allowed their employees to stay home and off the roadways. To all of the other drivers who stayed off the roadways as well THANK YOU.
 If drivers could PLEASE stay home as much as possible it would be GREATLY appreciated."

Today's another snow day up there as people dig out and recover from the big storm. Gov. Butch Otter is still in Coeur d'Alene, following his full schedule of appearances and speeches that started with his "Capital for a Day" event in Rathdrum on Wednesday.

 

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