SPOKANE, Wash — Though heavy snowfall has tapered off in the Spokane area, slick roads have become a major problem for drivers during the Thursday evening commute.
The Spokane Police Department (SPD) issued an emergency alert at 7:15 p.m. requesting residents to limit their driving if at all possible due to extremely icy road conditions.
KREM 2 has crews throughout the Spokane area providing updated information about road conditions. Photojournalist Dave Somers took a video of Havana-Yale Road and 17th Avenue, which he said is a "parking lot." The video shows cars stuck, stopped and sliding down the road. A school bus is also stopped at the top of the hill.
Carnahan Road is currently shut down due to slick conditions, according to KREM 2 reporter Kyle Simchuk. Earlier in the afternoon, a school bus veered off the road into a ditch but it has since been cleared.
Grand Blvd. is currently shut down. According to a Facebook post, the Manito Holiday Lights Event is canceled on Thursday night due to road conditions.
According to the Spokane Police Department, officers have responded to more than 100 accidents since 12 p.m. on Thursday. In a Facebook post, they reminded drivers to leave early, slow down and be patient while driving.
Lincoln Rd. is closed going south as of 5:30 p.m.
A Winter Weather Advisory was in place through 6 p.m. around the Spokane area and North Idaho on Thursday. The snow is impacting much of northeast Washington and North Idaho, including Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane Valley, Cheney and Moscow.
The Spokane area will likely see some of its coldest temperatures of the season on Friday, with morning lows in the teens and a chilly afternoon with highs in the upper 20s to around 30 degrees.
The next storm system comes in on Saturday. Though it will initially bring snow, warmer air moving in will likely change precipitation over to rain, limiting snow amounts to just a few inches locally. Highs will be in the middle to upper 30s.
The Cascades and higher terrain of North Idaho could see heavy snow on Saturday, with the heavier snow shifting into the higher terrain of the Central Idaho Panhandle Saturday night and Sunday.
More rain and snow is expected on Sunday, with similar highs in the mid-to-upper-30s.