Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland, Kootenai schools all cancel classes today
COEUR d'ALENE -- Barely freezing temperatures and a record-breaking storm system covered the Idaho Panhandle with heavy, wet snow Saturday and Sunday.
The wet snow mixed with ice covering roads, which created extremely dangerous driving conditions.
The Idaho State Police warned drivers Sunday to drive only in emergency situations.
Emergency personnel responded over the weekend to numerous vehicle slide-offs and crashes, ISP reported.
The Montana Highway Patrol advised drivers to avoid traveling on Interstate 90 over Lookout Pass if at all possible.
Road conditions were expected to worsen over Sunday night, prompting Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland and Kootenai school districts to close Monday.
The National Weather Service in Spokane issued a hazardous weather outlook for the weekend, reporting the winter storm pattern would continue through the work week, bringing another round of snow and below-freezing temperatures.
Climatologist Cliff Harris said another front of arctic air could freeze wet snow on roadways causing major problems for drivers.
"It's going to refreeze tonight and get colder through the week.
"It's going to be a nightmare," Harris said of driving conditions. "If you don't have to be on the roads, don't be on the roads."
Harris said the storm that moved into the area Saturday night dropped enough snow between noon Saturday and Sunday morning to position it as the third largest storm since 1895, both in terms of amount of snowfall and duration of the storm.
By Sunday night, the storm had dropped snow for 27 hours without stopping, he said.
Harris, who measures snow accumulation every four hours, 24 hours a day during a snow storm, said the front had dropped a total of nearly 20 inches by Sunday evening, bringing the total snow accumulation for the season to over 100 inches.
While a series of thaws have reduced the total accumulation at lower elevations and near Lake Coeur d'Alene, snowpack has continued to pile up at higher elevations. That pad of wet snow accumulating on rooftops could be hazardous for homeowners.
Harris advised homeowners, in areas where snow has piled more than three feet, to have snow removed from their roofs in order to avoid damage.
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