Heavy snows hit the area; Next up:  freezing rain

January 6, 2015

Well, that was a wallop. Snow blanketed the area, closing Boundary County schools and causing havoc on roadways. The snow sensing devices maintained by the National Water and Climate Center in Boundary County reported significant increases in snow levels, as snowfall accumulated over the past two days. Going into Sunday, January 4, the snow station at Hidden Lake on Boundary County's west side stood at 38 inches of snow. In the early hours of Tuesday, January 6, following heavy snows over the past couple of days, that total has gone to 44 inches. The Myrtle Creek snow station reported 7 inches of snow to start off January 4. In the early morning hours of January 6, that snow total has more than doubled, now reporting 16 inches. Just about a week ago, the Kootenai Basin total precipitation for the water year that began last October 1 was at only 73% of average for this time of year. Now, after our latest round of snowfall, the total precipitation for the Kootenai Basin is at 111% of average. Now that the snow has come, there is still a little more trouble predicted by the National Weather Service. They are calling for freezing rain overnight Monday and into Tuesday. However, as temperatures warm on Tuesday, going as high as 36 degrees, the freezing rain should turn to just plain rain. Patchy fog is predicted beginning Tuesday night and on into Thursday. Snow, freezing rain, fog----please drive carefully!