Area Stuck In Winter’s Icy Grasp Frigid Weather Is Coldest In Five Years

Plumbers are swamped, auto parts stores are having trouble keeping batteries in stock, pizza delivery drivers are scrambling.

The bitter cold, expected to last another week, is taking its toll on the region.

“We’re way behind,” said Joe Kennedy, a dispatcher at Roto-Rooter Plumbing Service in Spokane, where all of the plumbers are now on-call 24 hours a day.

“It looks like we’re going to keep right on being way behind the rest of the week.”

People calling with frozen pipes Tuesday waited as long as three hours for a plumber to thaw them.

Arctic air turned the city into a giant icebox. Spokane’s official low temperature Tuesday was minus 13 degrees, the coldest in more than five years.

That was relatively balmy compared with the state’s frostiest spot: Diamond Lake, just north of Spokane, which plunged to 30 below zero.

The National Weather Service is predicting frigid temperatures for the rest of the week with a high today of 8 degrees above zero, and a low overnight of minus 10 to minus 15.

The record low for today is minus 21 set in 1950. Spokane’s all-time record: 30 below zero on two consecutive days in January 1888.

Most people dealt with the cold by turning up the thermostat.

Washington Water Power said electricity usage is up 21 percent this week over last, with natural-gas consumption jumping 66 percent. To meet the demand, the utility is drawing down its Noxon Reservoir in Montana 2 feet a day.

The subzero weather spelled trouble for unwary motorists.

During Tuesday’s morning commute, the Washington State Patrol assisted more than 100 people stranded along area highways when their cars conked out.

Others rushed to auto parts stores to buy new batteries.

“We probably sold 35 batteries today,” said Brian Jenkins, manager of the Les Schwab on Northwest Boulevard.

“With the cold snap, I’ve ordered 60 more, and will order 60 more (Thursday) if I need them.”

The store typically sells eight batteries a day.

Sears sold more than 125 car batteries by late afternoon. Managers expected a fresh shipment this morning to prepare for another rush.

At Al’s Auto Supply, engine heaters and gasoline anti-freeze were hot items.

Demand for pizza is higher than normal around Spokane because of the cold and snow, but most customers haven’t lost their sense of compassion. Delivery drivers reported tips went up as the temperature dropped.

“I think (customers) were just happy that somebody was delivering to them,” said Gene Boik, Pizza Pipeline vice president.

The last time the Inland Northwest froze this hard was on Dec. 29, 1990, when a low of minus 16 was recorded.

It was so cold in Coeur d’Alene that the Weather Service’s automatic thermometer quit registering temperatures.

A weather spotter in Coeur d’Alene reported a low Tuesday morning of minus 6. Elsewhere, St. Maries, Idaho, chilled to minus 5; Ritzville, minus 9; Colville, minus 15; and Walla Walla, minus 9.

Relief from the cold snap is still a week away, the weather service said. Long-range weather charts show a warming trend next week.

For plumbers, there’s no end in sight to the flood of emergency calls.

“When the pipes thaw out, and the water starts running down the ceiling, we’ll get those calls, too,” Kennedy said.

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