Snow, temperature drop feed hazardous conditions

Washington and Idaho authorities responded to dozens of weather-related collisions and slide-offs Friday.

As of 8:30 p.m., the Idaho State Police responded to 68 slide-offs and 26 crashes. The ISP warned drivers to avoid travel on Interstate 90 after a series of accidents. Eastbound I-90 at Fourth of July Pass was completely closed for several hours due to semitrucks sliding off the road, causing heavy backup.

The Washington State Patrol said no serious injury collisions had occurred as of 8:30 p.m., but a vehicle did collide with a building at Trent Avenue and Fancher Road, breaking a gas main.

In Spokane, winter weather caused multiple road closures.

The slippery road conditions occurred as snow showers formed ahead of a slow-moving cold front along the I-90 corridor. As temperatures dropped, melt on the roads from earlier in the day refroze and was covered by a layer of snow, a combination that made driving conditions hazardous.

A winter storm warning was in place Friday for areas of north Spokane County and Stevens County, as well as areas of the Idaho Panhandle.

At 4 p.m., the latest report, Spokane airport had received a little more than an inch of snow, but snow continued falling for hours. Northport received more than seven inches by 7 a.m. and Newport saw 11 inches by 4 p.m.

Coeur d’Alene got one to four inches, while nine inches were reported around Rathdrum.

The winter weather prompted several Spokane-area warming centers to open because of extreme weather conditions and temperatures well below freezing.

Today and tonight there is a 20 percent chance of snow in Spokane, with a high near 28 degrees and a low around 15. Coeur d’Alene has the same chance of snow as Spokane but will be a couple degrees cooler, with a high reaching 27 degrees and a low of about 13.