Uh-oh: Wind storm II?

COEUR d’ALENE — Don’t put those chain saws away just yet.

A parade of storms are headed toward North Idaho this week, and emergency management officials are bracing for small stream flooding and another potentially damaging wind storm.

“We just got done with a weather briefing,” said Sandy Von Behren, director of the county’s office of emergency management. “We discussed putting out a press release to talk about all of the stuff coming up.”

The National Weather Service is predicting another wind storm with sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph on Wednesday, and until then meteorologists say steady rains could cause flooding in some areas.

Von Behren said the rain loosening the soil around trees that were already compromised during the last wind storm has emergency workers concerned about more trees falling during the Wednesday's oncoming storm.

“We want to alert the public to that,” she said.

The office of emergency management has an emergency operations center it plans to partially activate Wednesday in anticipation of the coming winds, with an incident management team and a citizen inquiry phone line. That phone number will be 446-2292, and is for non-emergency storm-related calls.

“What we are trying to do is relieve some of the pressure on the 911 emergency system during the storm,” she said.

Von Behren said her office is still compiling information from the last wind storm, which hit the area Nov. 17. She still has to compile her “after action” report that highlights what the emergency responders did right and, more importantly, what they did wrong.

After that document is discussed, Von Behren said an improvement plan will be developed to resolve some of the issues they may have had during the last wind storm.

“We want to make sure we continue to do the things we did right, and improve on things that need improvement,” she said.

The National Weather Service said to expect more rain today and Wednesday. Those rains could cause some minor field flooding, rises on small streams, and minor mud slides. It will also become increasingly windy tonight.

Wednesday will likely be the windiest day of the week, and has the potential for gusts of 50 mph or more over the region. That is nearly the same forecast the weather service gave for the Nov. 17 storm.

Mild and windy conditions overnight will set the stage for an unusually warm day today.

Following the passage of a band of rain this morning, a tight southerly pressure will produce "warm" and windy conditions over the eastern third of Washington and much of North Idaho.

Elevations above 4,000 feet will have the potential to experience sustained winds of 30 mph or more with gusts of 50 mph, starting today. Lower elevations will be more likely to experience sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph with periodic gusts to 40 mph.

“The parade of systems continues, starting with another potentially significant wind event on Wednesday,” the weather service said in a forecast. “Models agree on the broader features of that system but they are still coming together on some details.”

Wednesday morning, a warm front is expected to be draped somewhere across the northern mountains to Canadian border, but it is uncertain how far north. A cold front will also be pushing into the Cascades.

“The combination of these features will continue to provide precipitation over much of the region in the morning,” the weather service said. “Through late Wednesday morning to afternoon most models rapidly push the cold front through with drier air, shunting the precipitation threat into the mountains.”

In the morning, snow levels are expected to be between 5,000 to 7,000 feet. They drop to 3,500 to 4,500 feet through the afternoon. Then overnight near the Cascades through northern mountains, they drop to 1,500 feet to 2,500 feet, setting up that region for potential snow with the next system.

Meanwhile Lt. Gov. Brad Little — serving as governor while Gov. Butch Otter is out of state — declared most of North Idaho an emergency on Monday in response to the wind storm on Nov. 17.

The emergency declaration covers Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties.

Tens of thousands of North Idaho residents were left without power for days. The emergency declaration authorizes the use of state and federal funds to help cover the estimated $2.6 million cost of damages.

Von Behren said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is meeting in Coeur d’Alene today to conduct a preliminary damage assessment of the last wind storm and the outcome of that will determine if the region qualifies for federal assistance.