The barrage of snow and ice Tuesday left North Idaho roads a quagmire of slick slush and frozen ruts.
Drivers this morning are urged to use extreme caution and stay on major throughways.
Late Tuesday, drivers eased their way through a maze of downed power lines and fallen trees as police rushed from one accident to the next - most of them minor slide-offs or cars stuck in the freezing mess.
"The roads are absolutely treacherous," said a Boundary County sheriff's dispatcher. "We're swamped. We've got officers getting stuck and we're telling people to stay off the roads."
Kootenai County sheriff's Deputy Ed Anderson was out patrolling when a tree fell on his car along U.S. Highway 95 north of Rockford Bay. He was not injured.
Downed trees caused problems along these routes:
Fernan Lake Road
U.S. Highway 95 south of Fighting Creek
Thomas Lane at Maple Leaf
Bonnel between Sunnyside and Yellowstone
12th and Syringa in Post Falls.
In Spokane, drivers battled similar conditions in a scene that seemed surreal.
Toby McAuliffe's two-hour drive from his Valley office to his Indian Trail home on Spokane's North Side repeatedly forced him to dodge fallen trees and power lines.
"It felt like a scene out of the move 'Independence Day,'" McAuliffe said.
In Latah County, a sheriff's dispatcher said visibility was so bad that one officer had to drive no faster than 2 mph.
"There's a lot of hard, driving snow keeping the visibility down," said Maeleen Aston, a Latah County sheriff's dispatcher. "One officer said he couldn't even see to the end of his car."
Traffic lights throughout North Idaho stopped working. The trek from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane on Interstate 90 was perilously slick with ridges of ice. Driving rain froze on windshields as evening traffic at times slowed to 30 mph.
"We're just trying to remind people to drive slower, take their time if they have to travel and stay home if they don't have to travel," said sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger.
With freezing rain and snow making visibility difficult, Wolfinger urged drivers to make sure their windows are clear before setting out.
He also suggested that drivers keep a blanket and flares in the car and always wear warm clothes when driving in bad weather.
Bonner County authorities in Sandpoint dealt with vehicles sliding off roads and minor collisions, although they had dodged the power blackouts to the south.
"This storm is just horrendous," sheriff's Deputy Vicki Webb said. "It doesn't look like it's going to let up soon. All of our roads are still open, but they're almost impassable."
The snow had abated in the Lewiston area after a number of automobile accidents near Orofino, Idaho State Police dispatcher Vicki Gehring said.
"Our biggest problem has been hunters who park their campers," she said. "Some of the counties are having to take snowmobiles in to get them out."
