Snowiest leap day ever
Alecia Warren | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 8 months AGO
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Don Weagley removes snow from his driveway Wednesday at his Coeur d'Alene home near Canfield Mountain. Several inches of snow fell in the overnight hours, blanketing the area.</p>
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Snow clings to the top of a stand of barren weeds Wednesday along Coeur d'Alene Lake drive.</p>
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press A set of hay rake wheels contrast the untouched snow that fell on the Rathdrum Prairie following the snowstorm early Wednesday.</p>
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Jessica Decker, of Coeur d'Alene, 22, decided to build a frog out of the freshly fallen snow Wednesday as a way to celebrate Leap Day.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - And it just keeps piling on.
While there was intermittent blue sky and a beaming sun on Wednesday, Coeur d'Alene residents were still schlepping through snowdrifts, bracing against bitter winds and steering their cars down icy roads.
"It came out of nowhere," said Dustin Geesman, Coeur d'Alene Resort landscaper, as he dribbled gravel on an icy downtown sidewalk.
The city accumulated 4.8 inches of snow by mid afternoon on Wednesday, according to climatologist Cliff Harris, breaking the leap day record of 3 inches in 1952.
The .32 inches of melted snow also topped the .14-inch precipitation record from 1956.
With the combination, Harris said, "this is the wettest and snowiest 29th of February since at least 1896."
He predicted that Coeur d'Alene would have another 3 to 6 inches of snow through Wednesday night and this morning. Snow showers will also linger tonight, he added.
"Then we warm up a bit," Harris promised, forecasting that temperatures will scoot up to the 40s over the weekend.
Folks around town had varying levels of enthusiasm.
Geesman said it would take "a full eight hours" to plow, scrape and de-ice The Resort's property.
"It could have been worse," he figured after shoveling outside Splash nightclub on Sherman. "At least it's not too cold out."
But he personally wouldn't mind the powder melting quick.
"I'm not a huge fan of snow," he confessed. "I'm more of a sunshine guy."
Lisa Andrews, shoveling the sidewalk outside her Coeur d'Alene home, admitted she had hoped to see warm spring weather by now.
"I'm thankful I don't have to go far. I'm worried about those who have to travel," she said.
Those who did had some struggles. The Coeur d'Alene Police Department reported more than a dozen accidents and slide offs by mid morning on Wednesday.
Drivers are overconfident about spring weather, said Sgt. Christie Wood.
"They have to remember the roads are icy and slick," she said, advising drivers to curb their speed. "That will prevent a lot of accidents, just being aware of what's ahead of you and behind you and driving slow."
Jessica Decker enjoyed the snow without leaving home.
The 22-year-old built a 5-foot frog out of snow on her Coeur d'Alene lawn and painted it green, writing a green "Happy Leap Day" message underneath.
"We had green paint, so kind of, why not?" Decker said with a laugh. "It was perfect packing snow today."