Colder days in forecast

If you thought last night was cold, wait until tonight.

Forecasters are calling for even colder temperatures.

On Thursday, northeast winds caused snow drifts across some area roadways as the arctic cold swept into the area on the heels of light to moderate snowfall overnight Wednesday.

Spokane County road crews reported snow drifts on some roads in southern parts of the county, and near the Idaho state line.

Elsewhere, crews were working to clear snowfall amounts that ranged from a half-inch on Spokane’s South Hill to as much as 6 inches in parts of Spokane County. The variation was caused by a series of intense shower clouds that stalled over various parts of the region late Wednesday and early Thursday morning. Ford, in Stevens County, had 8 inches.

Numerous accidents were caused by the icy conditions.

At Spokane International Airport, where 4 inches of new snow fell, winds Thursday blew at a steady 17 mph, which, combined with the temperature of 18 degrees, created a wind chill of 3 degrees. Later in the day, the airport had wind gusts in the mid-20s.

“It’s coming in for real today,” Matt Fugazzi, forecaster for the National Weather Service, said of Thursday’s arctic blast.

Gusts to 30 mph were reported early Wednesday at Sandpoint in the heart of the Purcell Trench, one of two main funnel routes for low-lying arctic air moving into the region. The other route is the Okanogan River Valley in north central Washington.

A weather station at State Line, Idaho, on Thursday had gusts to 29 mph. Wind chills were in the single digits there and at Sandpoint.

Temperatures tonight are expected to drop to around zero in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, with wind chills making the air feel much colder. Daytime highs today and Saturday may reach the mid-teens.

The cold is expected to ease some, but don’t expect much of a warm-up soon. Highs should rise to the mid-20s by Monday in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene and then to the low 30s starting Tuesday. Computer forecast models are calling for continued cold for the foreseeable future.

“It looks like we’ll keep the northerly flow for quite a long time,” Fugazzi said.

Spokane’s street department said plans called for clearing arterials, hills and bus routes, but not residential streets.