Weather

The first time a snowstorm made his lights flicker, Kevin O'Connell went out and bought his own gasoline-powered generator. Then the lights went out all weekend and stayed out Monday. "My neighbors are down to 37 degrees in their houses. I'm up to 72," he said Monday. "I invited them to spend the night."

A record amount of autumn rain and snowfall has raised fears of flooding throughout the region even before winter officially gets started.

1. John Phelps of Caldwell, Idaho, works on paper-covered phone lines in a U S West manhole at the corner of Division and Carlisle. Water from the ice and snow storms may have damaged many of the 1,200 lines. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Gary Clemonson talks with the office while working in the field at a repair site at the corner of Ruby and Indiana. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

November's ice storm did more than pummel the Valley's power lines. It put the freeze on Valley home sales, too, said real estate analysts. "Things came to a screeching halt in this community with the ice storm," said Don Walker, spokesman for the Spokane Association of Realtors. "No one could get in to look at homes."

1. Jeff Merideth of Columbia Rural Electric in Dayton works to restore power to this snowbound corner of west Newman Lake on Mountain View Road. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Renee Hartshorn and her 18-month-old son were without power for 15 days until crews repaired their lines. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 3. Above, with phones and power out at Newman Lake, people left notes to line crews in fluorescent orange spray paint. 4. Right, Brian Schimmels removes trees that are leaning on power lines. 5. Below, Jeff Clark brings a load of hay to his livestock on the west side of the lake. 6. Above, lineman Rich Willimas of Wilson Construction works on a line that leans under the weight of several trees on the west side of Newman Lake. 7. At right, Renee Hartshorn and son Cade in front of their home that was dark for two weeks. Photography by Steve Thompson.

Next year's hurricane season will begin with Ana and end with Kate if Dr. William M. Gray is right. The atmospheric scientist's long-range forecast, issued Friday from non-tropical Colorado, said seven of the 11 named storms will become hurricanes. If so, the span of 1995-97 will become the most active three-year period in the 126-year recorded history of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The previous four years, collectively, were the slowest on record. "It appears that we have left the period of lessened hurricane activity," Gray said. He has expected that for the last few years, with increasing vulnerability for Florida, the other southeastern states, the Bahamas and northwest Caribbean.

A winter storm watch was issued Friday by the National Weather Service for possibly heavy snow starting this afternoon. Forecasters said the snow could change to freezing rain or rain by Sunday as a surge of warm air moves ashore from the Oregon coast starting today. Upper level winds offshore are expected to send heavy moisture from the subtropical waters near Hawaii in a weather pattern sometimes called the Pineapple Express. Cold air on the ground in the Inland Northwest should keep the early phases of the storm snowy, but the warming trend is expected to turn precipitation to rain on Sunday. Forecasters said snow and rain amounts could be heavy, but did not specify potential snowfall amounts in the forecasts issued Friday night.

The ice storm's punch to Washington Water Power Co.'s bottom line follows an earnings blow earlier this year from the company's aborted merger with Sierra Pacific Resources. Together, the left-right jabs will cost company shareholders about $28 million in 1996. That's a painful cut, but one analysts said should heal rather quickly with help from new wholesale revenues.

Ron Fukai, Nancy Raciot and Les Bryan of WWP answer questions about problems caused by the ice storm. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

There was no truly drenching hurricane across the Northeast this year, and no El Nino effect. It just rained on and off and on again through spring, summer and fall. And yet, with a few weeks to go, 1996 is lining up as the wettest year in the 12-state region since record-keeping started in 1894. Although snow fell often last winter, the only really big blip on the weather chart was the second week of January, when the Blizzard of '96 dropped 1-1/2 feet to 3 feet of snow. It was blamed for more than 100 deaths. The El Nino phenomenon, a warming trend in the water of the tropical Pacific that can sharply alter weather patterns around the world, was not active, he said.

1. Some like it hot. A life-sized poster of Marilyn Monroe in a store window on West Second Avenue sparks fond memories of warmer days as 6 inches of snow fell on Spokane Wednesday. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Kevin Lyonnis tries to keep up with Wednesday's snowstorm as he shovels off the walk outside The Bon Marche. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 3. The long ride home. Bill Hall got a ride home on Kathleen Avenue in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday, even if it was in the back of his friend's El Camino. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review (This photo appeared in Idaho edition only.)

While the onslaught of icy weather paralyzed much of the region with power outages and icy roads, conditions on the wetlands around Spokane are "ducky." Lakes, streams and ponds on the West Plains and south Spokane County are quickly filling with water.

Some of the region's imaginative and innovative residents survived more than a week without electricity and still had light, television reception, hot water and warm living and dining rooms and kitchens. While most families stumbled around in near-freezing rooms lit by candles and flashlights, the innovators lived comfortably until the line crews finally turned on their electricity. When his lights went out, Don Ostlund, one of the region's most imaginative fishermen, knew exactly how he could provide emergency light for he and his wife, Karen. He used a system he and other anglers use when they fish at night for kokanee.

Sixteen-year-old Leah Phillips holds her license and registration at the ready Tuesday afternoon after her truck collided with a school bus at 37th and Bernard. No one was hurt. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

The way Washington Water Power Co. handled Ice Storm '96 is unacceptable. There is no good reason for people living in a city this size to go for more than three days without power. I see two reasons why this has happened: One, WWP didn't have an adequate disaster plan; and two, WWP seems more concerned about stockholders and bottom line financial figures than about the paying citizen.

Jesee Dawson shovels some snow from the top of The view Cafe near Cocolalla Lake, Idaho. Helping him are Jason Raiser and Adam Long. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Muscovites are scratching their hatless heads and wondering where their winter went. Last month was the warmest November on record in western Russia, and the first "officially" snowless one for Moscow. So instead of waking up to winter wonder each morning, Muscovites have been waking up to winter weirdness.

Debris duty. Cemetery worker Kerry Clark saws up fallen trees at Forest Cemetery in Coeur d'Alene, where 44 trees were damaged and must be removed. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

A 28-year-old Bonner County woman died outside her home over the weekend, apparently from exposure, Bonner County authorities said. Alice Ward was found Saturday by her boyfriend on the porch of her Algoma home, south of Sandpoint. Authorities said the woman had been drinking the night before and had an argument with her boyfriend. He came back to check on her, found her dead outside and called authorities. The woman was dressed but not wearing a coat or gloves.