COEUR d'ALENE - As the fluffy white flakes blanketed downtown Coeur d'Alene, Brent Bright and Ashley Berland went for a walk in City Park.

It was their first date, and the two were ecstatic to be in the midst of the first big winter snowstorm in North Idaho this season.

"It's great, I'm loving it," said Bright, of Plummer. "We're just enjoying the snow. My favorite holiday and season is winter and Christmas."

Bright said he moved to Idaho from the desert-like Yakima Valley "just because of the snow. And my grandmother. My grandma promised me 5 or 6 feet of snow. I was really rooting for the snow."

"I'm loving it too," said Berland, of Spokane.

A winter storm warning and hazardous weather outlook issued by the National Weather Service called for heavy snow in the Idaho Panhandle and eastern Washington until 4 a.m. today.

And snow it did.

"I love the white snow," said Chelsea Ward, 24, of Coeur d'Alene. "It makes it more festive, I should say, it makes it more like home. I'm excited for it to finally snow."

While sledders took advantage of the few inches that had fallen since 4 a.m., area first responders spent Saturday managing a crash crisis. Coeur d'Alene Police Sgt. Todd Hedge reported seven weather-related car wrecks within city limits as of Saturday afternoon and Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ward Crawford called the high volume of slideoffs and crashes "chaos."

"Over the last three hours, I've lost track. We've had to call all the shifts in early," Crawford said Saturday afternoon. "It's been just sort of chaos for the last three hours between us and (Idaho State Police). Both channels have been so busy."

Crawford said that Interstate 90 from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane appeared to be relatively OK, but crashes were happening everywhere north, south and east of that stretch of the freeway.

"The key problem is the wet snow hits the ground and it's getting packed and freezing right there," he said. "It's causing a lot of traction issues."

He advised people to stay at home as the heavy snow persists and only travel if absolutely necessary. If people must drive, he said plan to take twice as long to arrive at your destination, and slow down.

"The distance between the cars needs to be exaggerated greatly," he said. "You will slide more than you think you will."

Local climatologist Cliff Harris said this is the first plowable snow since March 2, and this system will be followed by snow showers and blowing snow.

"Winter is coming alive," he said.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, at his station on Player Drive, Harris had recorded 3 inches of snow by Lake Coeur d'Alene, 4 inches in Hayden, about 5 in Rathdrum and 3 in Post Falls.

"But it's still snowing at a pretty good clip," he said, adding that by midday today North Idaho could see as much as 9 inches of snow or a little more. And New Year's Eve and New Year's Day don't look too bad snow-wise, "but they're going to be cold." Harris said by New Year's Eve temperatures will drop to zero for the first time since February.

"We may stay a little above, but it's going to be cold," Harris said. "Protect your pipes and pets."

But for now, the heavy snow is expected to taper off after snowing for many hours and will not be the last winter storm North Idaho sees this winter. It's just the beginning.

"It's going to be winter finally," Harris said.