SNOW DAY!

COEUR d’ALENE — Snow shot into the air from a red Honda snowblower as Mike Leyden cleared his friends' sidewalks on St. Helens Drive in Post Falls.

He said he hopes it snows like this on Jan. 11.

"Because then Clark's gives me my free ring!" he said with a laugh.

The most snow in a single day in Coeur d’Alene in at least three years came down Thursday, with 8.2 inches recorded by 4 p.m. by climatologist Cliff Harris.

Residents used shovels, blowers and rakes to clear driveways, walkways, porches and roofs, but had trouble keeping up. Two inches of snow fell in 90 minutes in the afternoon.

Julie Bishop was shoveling her Hayden driveway in the afternoon, after having it cleared once already that morning.

“I’m going to have to do it myself,” she said as she pushed the snow off to the side.

While the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office reported few mishaps Thursday, a truck traveling on Highway 97 along Wolf Lodge Bay slipped off the road and went into the water.

Two men inside were able to get out of the truck and climb the embankment to the highway. One reportedly suffered minor injuries, while the other was OK.

Todd Feusier, director of Coeur d'Alene's Streets and Engineering Department, said crews started clearing snow at 4 a.m. with a second shift starting at 4 p.m.

Arterials, hills and connectors were the priority. They hoped to get into residential neighborhoods by Thursday night.

“It’s going well for the amount of snow,” Feusier said.

He said they had five snow plows, four loaders with gates, four road graders, three sanders and three deicers on duty.

“We have a lot of machines out there,” he said.

The city mixes its own brine solution for a deicing agent.

Feusier said some residents were frustrated the streets in front of their homes hadn't been plowed, but said they were doing their best and working around the clock.

“We’ll keep going until it’s done,” he said.

Avista Utilities, as of Thursday afternoon, had about 20 power outages affecting 225 customers. It had a few earlier in the day in North Idaho that were repaired and back on line.

David Vowels, communications manager, said the dryer and lighter snow was helpful, but added that a forecast of rising temperatures, wind and rain today could cause outages.

“Heavy snow load can cause trees and tree limbs to come in contact with or fall into Avista power lines potentially bringing down lines, resulting in outages,” he wrote. “In the days to come, the snow melts causing the limbs to bounce, potentially contacting the same power lines again.”

Vowels wrote, “There is the potential for outages on the system due to weather through Friday based on the snow and wind mix.”

Avista crews are ready with fueled and stocked fleet vehicles, warehouse supplies in place in Spokane and outer offices, assessment teams standing by along with wire guard teams to help ensure public safety near downed power lines.

Tree crews are prepared, and employees have moved from daily responsibilities to assist in storm-related activities.

The high Thursday was 29 degrees and the low was 23. The temperature is expected to rise today, reaching the upper 30s or lower 40s, and it will probably rain.

The combination of heavy snowfall followed by rain could mean it’s time to clear roofs.

Wes Just used a snow rake to remove snow from his Hayden home and planned to get more down later.

Ted Lantzy, building official with the city of Coeur d’Alene, told The Press each situation is different.

“Heavy snow followed by rain is definitely not a good mix. People should monitor the weight of the snow and make their own decision. Or hire an Idaho registered contractor if they’re unsure how to proceed,” he wrote.

 He said those with flat or low-sloped roofs should make sure their gutters and downspouts are clear, because plugged gutters can create issues with ponding, adding more weight to the roof.   

The city doesn't make recommendations on when to remove snow from roofs, and warns people there are potential dangers with shoveling or raking snow from a roof.

“Besides the potential damage to the roofing materials and structure, there are such factors as a person sliding off the roof, falling off a ladder, overexerting themselves, or injury from snow sliding on top of them,” states an outline provided by the city.

Seright's Ace Hardware in Post Falls had a busy day as customers scrambled to find snow removal items.

"To be honest, we’re out of everything," assistant manager Alex Teer said Thursday afternoon. "We’re out of snowblowers, ice melt, snow shovels. We’ve been selling a couple grain shovels. We have some kids' snow shovels, some roof melt and one or two gallons of liquid deicer. We went through the rest of anything we had this morning."

Seright's Ace stores are experiencing warehouse and inventory issues as they try to keep up with the demand for snowy weather supplies, he said.

"Across all of our stores, we’re all out," Teer said. "Our Rathdrum store has ice melt on order right now, but there’s no telling. From there that will get distributed to stores in Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene."

Climatologist Harris said 50 inches of snow had fallen so far this winter, which is the most at this point since 2009, when 145 inches of snow was recorded in Coeur d’Alene.

“That’s quite something,” he said.

Harris said more snow is coming Monday and Tuesday, which could pay off for those who bought jewelry at Clark’s Diamond Jewelers on Sherman Avenue over the holidays.

If it snows at least 4 inches Tuesday at Spokane International Airport, all purchases made between Nov. 22 and Dec. 31 will be refunded 100% as part of Clark’s “Let It Snow” campaign.

Harris said Spokane got more than five inches of snow Thursday.

“If the jewelry promotion was held today, it would have paid off,” he said.

It still could.

Harris predicts a snow storm is coming, but “not as strong as this storm.”

“We’ll wait and see what happens," he said.