Snow blankets region on Sunday; expect more through the week
Spokane woke to a blanket of snow on Sunday morning that started falling just before sunrise and finished at about noon, blanketing the city with about 2-3 inches in less than six hours.
Areas across the Inland Northwest received anywhere from 1-4 inches as the weather system moved across Western Washington into North Idaho. Northport and Colbert reported 4 inches of snow.
“We are expecting additional chances of rain and snow through the week,” said Ken Daniel, a Spokane meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The next batch of note is coming in right around Monday afternoon and continues into Tuesday evening.”
Forecasters believe snow will return in Spokane after 3 p.m. Monday. The Inland Northwest could see an additional 2-3 inches of snow in areas, Daniel said. Additional chances of snow and showers will continue through the rest of the week into the weekend, he said.
There is potential for black ice on Monday morning as temperatures drop below freezing, but commuters should also expect delays on the Monday evening commute and Tuesday morning, said meteorologist Rachael Fewkes. The weather will likely hinder commute times through the rest of the week as well.
The weather service reports that 24 inches of snow has fallen at the airport since Dec. 1, which is about 9 inches less than normal and 10 inches less than at this same time in 2022.
There are no anticipated bitter cold snaps like last week, but temperatures through the next couple of weeks are expected to be colder than average for this time of year, he said.
“Basically we’re just running below 5-10 degrees (daytime temperature) for much of the Spokane area,” he said.
Snow was forecasted on both Stevens and Snoqualmie passes Sunday afternoon, with traction tires required on Stevens and advised for Snoqualmie as of 1:30 p.m.
Both Fourth of July and Lookout passes in Idaho were covered with snow on Sunday afternoon, with poor surface friction. Traffic was moving in both directions.