Spokane Storm Brings 8 Inches Weather, Accidents Close Roads; Snow May Turn Into Slush Today
Mother Nature dumped 8 inches of snow Sunday on the Inland Northwest’s winter-weary residents.
The Washington State Patrol issued a traffic advisory for all of Eastern Washington, warning drivers to stay home.
Parts of Interstate 90 were left with just one lane open. State Highway 27 from Tekoa to Fairfield was closed.
U.S. Highway 195 was closed from Rosalia to Spangle due to multiple minor accidents and a semitruck that rolled onto its side. There were no major injuries, troopers said.
In North Idaho, National Guard troops worked to clear roofs in Boundary County, while heavy snow collapsed the roof of Bass’ Western Wear store in Coeur d’Alene.
In Spokane, exhausted road crews faced the grueling task of plowing the city all over again.
“I’m burnt out,” radio operator Steve Brumbaugh said, working his seventh straight 12-hour shift. “We finished the whole town once … and it snowed again. We had to back up and punt, basically.”
Brumbaugh said plows would work throughout Sunday evening to clear busy arterials and the downtown area.
“Anything that flies, we’ve got out there plowing,” he said.
Depending on the weather, some residential streets may remain unplowed, Brumbaugh said.
“If we’re going to be getting warm weather, and if snow packs down to 4 or 5 inches, we just might leave them,” he said. “There’s no reason to spend $40,000 to $50,000 on slush that’s just going to be gone in a day anyway. We’ll just have to wait and see on that.”
Today, Spokane faces rain instead of snow. The National Weather Service expects highs in the mid-30s, with temperatures dropping into the high 20s tonight and Tuesday. Parts of southeastern Washington could have highs in the upper 40s.
Although Spokane International Airport remained open Sunday, the snow hampered Amtrak services. The train to Portland was canceled. The train from Chicago to Seattle arrived in Spokane at noon - eight hours late - and remained at the downtown station Sunday night.
Residential roads were clogged with cars and their shoveling owners. Some drivers got their cars moving only to get stuck again when they slowed for an intersection or another car.
To those who managed to get under way, a plowed arterial seemed like an oasis - a welcome break from snaking through the hub-high mess.
Kristen Jeffries, late for work, was afraid she’d never reach an arterial. Her car was blocked behind a solid berm of yellow-brown crust, placed in front of her driveway by a snowplow.
It may as well have been concrete. She was stuck.
“Hopelessly,” she said, staring at her Honda, buried up to its bumpers. “I was going to try and pound through, then a bus came.”
After about 20 minutes of free-spinning wheels and pushes from a neighbor, Jeffries headed back inside.
Some people tried preventive maintenance. Greg Payne and 10-year-old son, Jonah, climbed atop their South Hill home and began shoveling the flat section of roof above their veranda.
They had never tried it before, but the thickening crust of white had Payne worried about the weight.
The rest of the house - steep-roofed and hung heavy with snow and icicles - looked like a cottage from a Claymation Christmas special.
“I wouldn’t try to get on that,” Payne said, looking up to where the two sides of his roof made a pinnacle.
“That’d be stupid,” Jonah agreed.
Some people tried to make light of the mess. One couple put a sign in their yard reading, “Free snow, you haul.”
For some, the snow was an opportunity for sport.
Tom Kimbrell and Connie Connelly decided to cross-country ski through Manito Park.
“Who needs to go to the mountains, when you can ski right here?” Connelly asked. “This is wild.”
Jim Weaver jogged in snowshoes. Because of the tough conditions, he decided he could cheat a little and cut his run 15 minutes shorter, he said.
“It’s not your normal workout.”
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