Snow hits Spokane and North Idaho just as commuters head home for weekend

A winter storm expected to bring snow accumulations throughout the Spokane and North Idaho region began with flurries just as commuters headed home from work Friday afternoon.

The storm could bring about 3 inches of snow to Spokane and some areas could get a couple more, said Joey Clevenger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

“We got a little winter weather system rolling in this afternoon,” Clevenger said. “We are expecting steady snowfall. The main concern is the timing of it with the evening commute. It could perhaps snarl the traffic a little bit.”

The snow should extend from the western Columbia River basin through Coeur d’Alene and into Montana. “It could impact travel over the passes, as they get heavier amounts of snow,” he said.

The snow will move out at about midnight and the Saturday forecast includes winds that could gust up to 35 mph. “The strongest winds will come in the afternoon out of the south and southwest,” Clevenger said.

The winds will bring a short-lived boost in temperatures that should top out in the low 40s on Saturday afternoon. But they will cool off quickly as the wind shifts back to coming out of the north.

Saturday “will be the warmest day of the weekend. The low Saturday night will be right around 30,” he said. “We are not looking at any precipitation after this system” Friday night.

The temperatures will fall to the mid 30s for Sunday.

“Outside of patchy fog, it should be fairly quiet for the rest of the weekend,” Clevenger said.