Snow squall ushers in big flakes and phone alerts

A snow squall raced into Spokane on Wednesday evening, delivering big snowflakes, slippery roads and loud phone alerts.

The National Weather Service issued the emergency alerts as the expected storm system brought with it a winter twist that led to heavy snowfall, wind gusts reaching up to 20 mph in some areas and streets that turned from wet to icy in just minutes.

The squall was part of a brief moisture pattern that began as a mist around 5 p.m. before turning to heavy snow within two hours.

The weather service said the snow storm could drop 2 inches throughout the Spokane region and perhaps 4 inches in Pend Oreille County. It was forecast to last until about 10 p.m.

Various reports suggested that some areas on the outskirts of Spokane already had 2 inches on the ground by 8 p.m. with the snow still coming down.