Snow on the way as winter storm arrives Wednesday night

A winter storm is forecast to blanket Eastern Washington and North Idaho with snow beginning Wednesday night.

Light snow is expected to start falling this Wednesday evening and should continue throughout most of Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

“It looks like the brunt of the precipitation will take place Thursday and Thursday night,” said NWS meteorologist Greg Koch.

About 1 inch of snow is expected in the Spokane metro area with the transition from snow to rain taking place late Thursday, Koch said.

Area mountains will be socked with snow.

“Some of the Cascade ski resorts could get upwards of 3 feet or more by Sunday,” Koch said. “We’ve been running behind on mountain snow so this could help us get closer to average.”

The Cascade mountain passes could also get several feet of snow with Stevens, Loup Loup and Blewett all being “especially hard hit” over the next three days, Koch said.

In North Idaho, the Schweitzer area should get 1 to 2 feet by the weekend.

“This storm is going to be a big one for our ski resorts,” Koch said.

“Motorists with plans to drive on I-90 over Lookout Pass can expect treacherous driving conditions Wednesday night and Thursday,” Koch said.

While warmer temperatures and forecast rain in the valleys is expected to wash most of the snow away in lower elevations, the snow should stick in the mountains.

The forecast high temperature Thursday for Spokane is in the upper 30s and should continue to rise on Friday to the mid-40s with a nice breeze, Koch said.

Tuesday temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to upper 30s with less cloud cover than earlier in the week.

“We may actually see a bit of sun from time to time,” Koch said.