Snarled Traffic Three Inches Of Snow Leads To More Than 200 Collisions
Just because 3 inches of snow blanketed the Spokane region doesn’t mean El Nino is letting go.
El Nino is the reason so little snow has fallen this season, said Bob Quinn, an expert on long-range weather patterns.
Monday’s storm brought the total to 4.5 inches.
A year ago, the National Weather Service had measured more than 32 inches of snow in Spokane by Dec. 8.
Monday’s snow arrived in time for the morning rush hour and left traffic predictably snarled. It was the first time many drivers have been forced to negotiate icy roads since last winter.
Spokane area authorities reported more than 200 weather-related collisions Monday.
“It was a very busy day,” said Sgt. Chris Powell of the Washington State Patrol. “It just boils down to people traveling too fast.”
WSP troopers were called to more than 100 accidents between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m., causing a shortage of troopers for other emergency calls, Powell said.
Spokane police and county sheriff’s deputies got more than 100 accident calls, too.
Powell said drivers should ease off the accelerator pedal, steer gently around corners and leave a lot more room to stop.
“Keep a little more distance between cars,” he said. “There’s no mystery that the snow on the roadway is slick. You have to be prepared.”
Also, think about new tires.
“If you have marginal tires, that exaggerates the bad conditions,” Powell said. “It is very important to have good tires with a heavy tread.”
Forecasters say drivers will have several days to consider that option.
A rebuilding high pressure system is expected to hold winter storms at bay until the end of the week or longer.
El Nino, a warming of tropical Pacific waters, typically causes mild weather in the Inland Northwest but heavy storms in California.
“You’ve got to ignore the individual weather event and look at the basic pattern,” said Quinn, an Eastern Washington University geography professor. “The basic pattern has been classic (El Nino).”
That pattern splits the Pacific storm track into northern and southern branches. The southern branch strikes across California and the Southwest. The northern branch extends into British Columbia and southeastern Alaska, leaving the Pacific Northwest relatively calm.
California has had repeated rainstorms since September. Some reporting stations have precipitation totals as high as 180 percent of normal in that state. Last weekend, the first flooding of the season struck, and weather officials attributed the storm to El Nino.
At the same time, the Inland Northwest has seen a lot of sunny days, and most of the precipitation has fallen as rain. A normal winter season brings 50 inches of snow here.
The forecast for the rest of the week calls for a return to stable weather conditions with low clouds, fog and near-normal temperatures. Highs will be just above freezing, and lows will be in the 20s.
Forecasters said there’s little chance of any more significant snowfall this week.
“It’s pretty much over, at least for this time around,” said Jim DeBerry, a Weather Service meteorologist in Spokane.
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