Spokane snow squall leads to slow morning commute and crashes

A quick dump of snow caused a slick morning commute and a few school delays Thursday.

The National Weather Service issued a snow squall warning Wednesday night as the worst of the storm arrived. Amounts varied greatly throughout the Inland Northwest.

Seven inches fell at the Spokane International Airport, setting a daily record for Spokane, said Rachel Fewkes, National Weather Service meteorologist. The West Valley and East Valley school districts were among a few districts in Spokane County that delayed the start of school because of the snow.

And just what is a snow squall? It’s an intense snowfall that causes whiteout conditions but doesn’t last long, Fewkes explained.

Most readings in the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley ranged from about 3 to 5 inches, Fewkes said. One weather service worker measured 9 inches in their yard in Airway Heights. Readings in Hauser Lake and Hayden showed 8 inches. Coeur d’Alene got about 4 inches. Colville received less than a half inch. A report just north of Moscow showed 1.3 inches.

In Spokane, many arterials were slushy in the morning commute, and residential streets tended to be covered by hard-packed snow.

Spokane police responded to 32 crashes from about 7 p.m. Wednesday to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, said Officer Daniel Strassenberg. Of those, five were listed as injury crashes and another four were hit-and-runs.

The Washington State Patrol responded to 16 crashes Wednesday night and Thursday morning as of 9:30 a.m., said Sgt. Greg Riddell. No serious injuries were reported. An Amazon truck slammed into the back of a semitruck on the shoulder of Interstate 90 on the West Plains. The Amazon driver was cited for negligent driving.

Although the most intense snow fell Wednesday, most of the collisions happened during the morning commute.

“It was actually surprisingly quiet until about 5 a.m.,” Riddell said.