Check flight arrivals online

So, you’ve almost recovered from that through-the-river, over-the-woods ride to grandma’s, or finally shaken the image of those sweaty, sock-footed masses and random show and tells at airport security.

Ready to do it again? Although Monday was likely the bulge in the holiday travel pipeline, travel pros have some tips for those due back at work today or heading home over the next week.

One tip intended to keep the family car from overheating outside of Spokane International Airport’s baggage claim is “real-time” flight information that makes it possible to track a plane’s progress on the Internet. Officials at the state’s second-busiest airport say the service allows people to log on to the airport’s Web page at www.spokaneairports.net and click on the links for departures or arrivals. The Web site lists the expected time for a plane’s arrival. The times posted online are the same ones shown on flight information displays at the airport and are updated when circumstances change.

A glance at arrival times Monday night indicated delays of one to two hours for a few flights.

On the highways, the roads were wet but passable Monday, with ice creating some hazards for nighttime drivers, said Sgt. Erik Koch of the Washington State Patrol. The other thing to watch out for, Koch said, are drunken drivers, who have been thick on Spokane-area roads this season.

“Since November 15 we’ve had 330. Last week we had 57 arrests in the Spokane district,” Koch said. “Thankfully, we’ve had no alcohol-related fatalities.”

The Idaho State Police, on the other hand, has found few drivers inebriated over the holidays. There were only three arrests for drunken driving over the weekend. With higher temperatures, Sgt. Tim Johnson of ISP said, the only risky stretches of road are at high elevations.

“It’s been wet and rainy everywhere, even Lookout Pass, but it’s starting to snow there a little bit, starting to stick. We had one crash there an hour ago,” Johnson said Monday, shortly after sunset.

Wet snow should increase at the higher elevations toward the end of the week, said Tracy Cox, forecaster for the National Weather Service. By higher, Cox means 5,000 feet, with area valley roads wet but passable. A strong stream of warm air from the southwest has lawns surfacing throughout the region, and Cox doesn’t see snow breaking that warm trend in the immediate future.

“The passes could see snow, but we’re just not getting that right now,” Cox said. “We just got a real good stream coming from the southwest.”