Storm knocks out power in several areas of North Idaho

Heavy snow and wind gusts of more than 40 mph during Wednesday’s winter storm knocked out power to several areas of North Idaho – including the entire town of St. Maries.

By midmorning Thursday, power was restored to the more than 3,700 Avista Utilities customers in the St. Maries area. School was canceled there for the day, as it was in the Lake Pend Oreille School District in Sandpoint.

About 1,600 Avista customers in the Sandpoint area lost power Wednesday night. Though power was restored in most places, crews were still working to fix equipment that left 100 Sandpoint-area homes without power, spokeswoman Debbie Simock said.

No outages were reported in Spokane or Coeur d’Alene, but about 800 Kootenai Electric customers in Harrison and Plummer experienced temporary outages, said company spokeswoman Erika Neff.

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts up to 51 mph at Fairchild Air Force Base and 43 mph at the Coeur d’Alene Airport.

Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo said there were reports of slide-offs, especially in the Fourth of July Pass area, but no injuries were reported.

Longo said he was called late Wednesday to an accident on the pass involving an ISP car. The trooper came around a bend and ran over a tree fallen across Interstate 90, Longo said.

He said the trooper got out of his car and stopped traffic so others wouldn’t also run over the tree.

“That was probably the worst incident we had,” Longo said.

Washington State Police responded to nearly 100 crashes, according to WSP Trooper Jeff Sevigney.

The forecast includes a chance of showers and cooler temperatures throughout the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane. Temperatures are expected to rise early next week, but showers are expected to continue.