Wind will howl through, followed by bitter cold

Plow crews were expected to finish clearing city, county and Valley residential streets in the Spokane area today just as an arctic cold front is poised to drop out of Canada.

A chance of snow was forecast in advance of the arctic front today. No accumulations were expected in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas.

However, southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph today could cause blowing snow. The wind might also bring a short-lived increase in temperatures before bitter cold spills into the region through openings in the mountains to the north and northeast of the Spokane region later today.

Winds will shift to blow out of the northeast as the front crosses the area. The National Weather Service posted a high wind watch for today for the Okanogan Valley.

Potentially heavy snow was forecasted in some mountain areas. A winter storm watch was posted for the central Panhandle in North Idaho, including Shoshone County and the eastern parts of Latah and Benewah counties. There, 4 to 8 inches of snow could fall in the valleys and up to 16 inches in the mountains.

Elsewhere, accumulations of 1 to 3 inches were expected in the northern counties of northeast Washington and North Idaho with as much as 10 inches falling in the mountains in those counties.

Lows near zero tonight in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene were expected to be followed by highs on Thursday around 5 degrees. Similar temperatures were forecasted in other parts of the region.

“By Friday morning, we’re going for a low of minus-12” in Spokane, said Tracy Cox, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Spokane. The low in Coeur d’Alene was forecasted to drop to minus-15 by Friday morning.

Temperatures were expected to remain bitterly cold through the holiday weekend, forecasters said.

In Spokane, police notified residents and visitors in Browne’s Addition to make sure their vehicles are not left in the way of snow plows today and Thursday. Streets there are so narrow that cars must be moved so that plows can make the streets safely passable.

The department warned that vehicles left on north-south streets in Browne’s Addition would be towed starting at 9 a.m. today in advance of plows. On Thursday, vehicles must be moved off of east-west streets by 9 a.m. Plowing takes only a few hours each day.

Elsewhere in Spokane, crews were moving from west to east in their effort to clear residential streets. The work was expected to be completed later today. The city has set up designated snow zones. Residents can call the snow hotline at 456-2666 to find out when plows are expected in their zones.

Outside the city, roads in southern and western Spokane County were plowed earlier this week. Crews expected to be working in the Valley today, and should be finished by this evening, said Wayne Storey, operations and maintenance superintendent for county roads.

The county provides street maintenance for the city of Spokane Valley.

As many as 98 trucks and graders are deployed by the county during snow plow operations on some 3,000 miles of roads and streets, Storey said.

During major snowstorms, the county and city crews start by clearing arterials before moving to hilly neighborhoods. Flatter residential areas are the last to be plowed.