Teenager killed in U.S. Highway 95 crash

Roads were slick much of Saturday as the region received its largest snowfall so far this season. Most crashes resulted in minor or no injuries, but a 13-year-old was killed on U.S. Highway 95 within the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation. Russell J. Qualls, 51, of Moscow, was driving north in a Chrysler Town and Country van about 9:15 a.m. when he lost control and slid sideways across the center lane into the path of a Subaru Outback driven by Daniel K. Fowler of Springfield, Oregon. The van went into the ditch and rolled after it was hit broadside by the Subaru, the ISP said. Qualls and a passenger, 50-year-old Lisa Qualls, were taken to Kootenai Health for treatment of their injuries. A second passenger, 13-year-old Kalkidan Qualls, was pronounced dead at Kootenai Health. Fowler and his passenger, Alida T. Gerritsen of Springfield, Oregon, were not injured. In Spokane County, the number of traffic accidents began to rise mid-day as the snow thickened. The Washington State Patrol responded to 35 crashes in Spokane County as of 8:30 p.m., said Trooper Randy Elkins. The agency responded to an additional 20 crashes in surrounding counties in Washington. None of the crashes resulted in serious injuries, he said. Snow totals varied greatly in the storm. Spokane officially received 1.9 inches of snow, but some areas lost snow cover as temperatures rose in the evening and snow turned to rain. About three inches fell in Mead, Colbert and Liberty Lake. About four inches were reported in Colfax and Pullman. Higher accumulations were reported in Idaho. About six inches fell in Rathdrum and Spirit Lake, said Greg Koch, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The highest report received by the local weather service office was 11 inches in Prichard in Shoshone County. The heavy, wet snow on tree branches and power lines was causing problems for power companies in Kootenai County Saturday evening. At 8 p.m. Kootenai Electric was reporting about 1,000 customers without power and Avista Utilities had more than 2,600 customers without power in the Coeur d’Alene area. By 10 p.m., Kootenai’s outages had been cut in half, and Avista’s fell to about 1,600. A white New Year’s seems to be a certainty for areas that didn’t lose snow cover to rain. High temperatures today will be at or below freezing in most areas and extremely cold temperatures are projected to arrive Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Van Horn. “It should be here for a while,” Van Horn said. The Spokane area could see winds up to 25 miles per hour on Monday, making it feel below zero with the wind chill. Some areas of North Idaho could see higher winds.