COEUR d'ALENE - We thought we had winter licked.

But it's just been winding up.

"The real winter is coming," warned Coeur d'Alene climatologist Cliff Harris on Monday afternoon, when flakes were already starting to fall.

The National Weather Service has predicted moderate to heavy snow accumulation throughout the week in the panhandle region, starting with 5 inches building up from Monday night through today, and an additional 6 inches to a foot expected through Thursday.

The Coeur d'Alene area specifically is projected to get up to 8 inches on Wednesday and up to four more inches on Thursday.

Harris said he believes these numbers are actually low.

He's expecting the area to collect up to 16 inches by next Monday, he said.

"Right now, we've only had 17.2 inches of snow for the whole winter," he said. "I think we could double that in the next week."

The snowfall will be coupled with strong winds, he added, causing large drifts and near blizzard conditions on the roads.

"It's still a developing situation. There's a lot of guesswork on exactly what's going to happen," he said.

Still, it will get people's attention, he said.

Sgt. Andy Boyle with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department urged drivers to use extreme caution.

"The biggest thing people can do is just slow down. The roads are going to get slick," he noted.

Boyle also suggested cleaning all snow off vehicles before driving to maximize visibility.

"Increased following distance is another huge thing," he said.

More precipitation is expected over the weekend, Harris said, though the temperature will determine whether it comes as rain or snow.

Elevations around 3,000 feet could also accumulate an extra foot this week, he noted.

No matter what, Kootenai County residents should prep their snowblowers and shovels, he said.

"I think it's 100 percent (chance of snow)," he said. "No way it's going to miss us."