COEUR d’ALENE — A storm that dropped up to 8 inches of snow in some areas of North Idaho caught many by surprise Thursday, but not climatologist Cliff Harris.

“The only one predicting it was me,” he said.

The Idaho State Police reported 11 crashes and slide-offs in the afternoon on area highways, with all but one limited to property damage. Most were on I-90 in Kootenai County.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office reported there were a few slide-offs, but no serious accidents resulting from the snowy, icy conditions

Harris said the snow was falling fast and furious starting in the morning and into the afternoon, up to an inch an hour at one point.

Coeur d’Alene and Hayden received 5 inches of snow by about 5 p.m. Rathdrum received about 7 inches of snow and Spirit Lake reportedly got about 8, and up to 10 inches fell in surrounding mountains, Harris said.

The high Thursday was 31 and the low was 16.

More snow is coming. A snowstorm is expected to arrive late Friday or early Saturday.

Harris said Saturday “is a big question mark.”

He said some are predicting up to 10 inches of snow, but he believes just as they underestimated Thursday’s snowstorm they are overestimating the one coming next.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on it,” he said.

If it stays below freezing, the area could get more than 5 inches of snow on Saturday, starting in the morning, Harris said. But if it warms up to more than 35 degrees, closer to 40, he expects a mix of rain and snow to fall.

“We could get a lot of snow if it stays cold enough,” he said.

He believes it is going to warm up Saturday.

More cold fronts with snow are coming in next week, with one perhaps arriving Wednesday night or early Thursday, and another one on Christmas, Harris said.

“We’re going to have a white Christmas, “ he said.

ISP offered drivers a few reminders: “Slow down, stay home if possible, and if you see emergency vehicles on the roadway, slow down and move over. Troopers are assisting a lot of folks out there today and everybody needs to give them a brake.”