Snow causes travel problems

Snowy conditions on Idaho and Washington roads

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Story Published: Dec 19, 2008 at 8:02 AM PDT

Story Updated: Dec 19, 2008 at 8:02 AM PDT

By Matt Loveless

Transportation officials said now's a good time to steer clear.

Record snowfall up north caused some major problems for the region's travelers. Snow covered much of the area's highways, and in some cases has done so since Wednesday night.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation's website, U.S. 195 from the Idaho state line to Colfax was an area of moderate impact, with drifting and blowing snow and compact ice. That same snow closed Washington State Routes 194, and 272 near Pullman Thursday.

On the Idaho side, Highway 95 saw very heavy snow packed on the road north of Genesee. The Idaho Transportation Department said about the only portion of the highway in the state that remains mostly clear are the roads in and out of Lewiston, where snow started falling early Thursday afternoon.

As for the rural roads, Nez Perce County Road Department Director Doug Moore said crews put down magnesium-chloride before it started snowing, but the snow has overtaken that. Moore said they'll be ready with a full fleet of plows. A number of the grades around the Valley are seeing slide-offs, and Moore recommends avoiding those routes. He said they expect three to four inches to dump in the county Thursday night, with 1-3 inches Friday. Moore said if that's the case, they should be fine.

The weather is not only creating problems on the roads. Alaska Air canceled two flights to Seattle Thursday morning, with two other flights running between one to two hours late.

The airlines are recommending that you check your flight status before heading to the airport if you are flying out of the Pullman/Moscow Airport or the airport here in Lewiston.

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