Mess could follow thaw

Sooner or later it will all melt.

Another round of snow hit the area earlier this week, but warmer temperatures are expected for the weekend, the National Weather Service is forecasting that highs could top 40 degrees Saturday and that it may rain.

That means streets now covered with snow and ice could become streets clogged with slush and standing water.

Post Falls street crews are prepared, said the city’s Public Works Director Terry Werner.

“We’ll keep watching the weather and go from there,” said Werner. “We just deal with it as it comes.”

Werner said he’s hoping for a slow thaw, but if the snow melts quickly street crews will go out to clear drains to keep streets from flooding.

“If people can keep drains clear in front of their homes it’s helpful,” he said.

Post Falls Streets Superintendent Jim Porter said that crews are already working to clear storm drains on city streets in anticipation of the thaw that will likely come with wind and rain, but he doesn’t anticipate major problems.

“We’ve got really good drainage,” Porter said.

While Spokane has to worry about a fast thaw overpowering its combined sewer-stormwater system and dumping raw sewage into the Spokane River, Post Falls’ sewer and stormwater systems are completely separate, Werner said.

Stormwater is filtered through swales on the side of many Post Falls streets.

Werner said he doesn’t anticipate finding out of the ordinary winter damage to city roads once the snow is gone.

Plow blades ride on skids to keep them from scraping the roadway.

Post Falls crews were aided to some extent by Mother Nature which dumped more snow on the east part of town than on the west side, Porter said. During one storm half the town received more than 6 inches of snow while the other half got very little, he said.

That allowed plows to concentrate on the worst-hit areas. “It helped us a lot,” Porter said.

Still, the city has already exceeded its sand and deicer budget by about $40,000.