It snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed
Canaan Lhevalley, 12, takes a spill on Cherry Hill in Coeur d’Alene on Saturday during a sledding outing with his family. BETHANY BLITZ/Press
BETHANY BLITZ/PressJimmy Siemers throws high daughter, Zoey, 5, over his shoulder to hike back up the sledding hill Saturday. Siemers said they just moved to Coeur d’Alene and are enjoying their first winter here.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressNeela Baughman, 5, isn’t sure what to think after getting smacked in the face with a snowball Saturday at Cherry Hill.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressDeEtte Haralson, a lead maintenance worker for the City, removes snow from the sidewalk on E Front Ave. near McEuen Park.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressCanaan Lhevalley, 12, sleds on Cherry Hill Saturday during an outing with his family.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressElizabeth and Carl Pierce of enjoy a quiet morning walk in the snow at City Park on Saturday. The Spokane couple was trying to go to the Lookout Pass ski area, but decided the roads were too dangerous and spent the day in Coeur d’Alene instead.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressFrom left to right, Leslie Parks, Tym Parks and Shelley Frei, from Moscow, walk their dogs in City Park Saturday.
By BETHANY BLITZ
Staff Writer
A record 15.9 inches of snow blanketed Coeur d’Alene on Saturday from a storm that began Friday afternoon, prompting quiet, snowy walks along the lake, hours of shoveling and sledding that often turned into doing summersaults down Cherry Hill.
Larry Walters, a park maintenance worker, woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning and spent all day with his co-workers removing snow from the sidewalks and parking lots around McEuen Park.
“It’ll take us all day today,” he said. “And we’ll be back in the morning.”
Across town, Jimmy Siemers was enjoying a fun day sledding on Cherry Hill with his 5-year old daughter Zoey. Toward the end of the day, they built a snow castle, and Zoey was queen — never too shy to tell someone where her castle needed improvements.
Seimers said this is their first winter here, and they’re excited for all the snow.
Press Meteorologist Randy Mann said Seimers and Zoey are in luck because more snow storms are expected this week.
This weekend’s storm is the “biggest in years,” according to Mann. He added that Coeur d’Alene has already surpassed its average yearly snowfall, 69.8 inches, and is still expecting more.
This winter season the Lake City has had 81.2 inches of snowfall, as measured at local climatologist Cliff Harris’ weather station in northwest Coeur d’Alene.
“This is the biggest early February storm ever, right here,” Mann said, noting the record was 10.1 inches in 1963.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a winter storm warning that lasts through Monday at 10 a.m. Part of the winter storm warning, according to the NOAA website, states heavy snow on the roads can create “treacherous driving conditions.”
Mann said another snowstorm is scheduled to hit Monday with a few inches of snow and another one is expected to hit mid-week with another inch or two.
He said the storms coming in this week could be either rain or snow, depending on the temperature, but it’ll all be rain by Thursday and Friday.
“That could be a problem,” Mann said, noting that if temperatures rise too fast, Coeur d’Alene could see some flooding.
“It won’t be that bad, it’ll just be area streets where you get clogged drains like what we had the last time,” he said. “But if it warms up too fast, we may have to take another look.”