COEUR d’ALENE — A snowstorm is expected to hit North Idaho late tonight and continue into early Thursday.

According to the National Weather Service, between 6 to 12 inches of snow is predicted in the valleys and up to 18 inches in the mountains.

“Travel could be very difficult,” the NWS said in a winter storm warning issued Monday afternoon. “The hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday morning and evening commutes.”

The snow will begin in Central Washington this evening before spreading into Eastern Washington and North Idaho during the late evening and overnight hours, the warning said. 

Coeur d’Alene Climatologist Cliff Harris said the deep freeze of arctic air out of Canada that caused subzero temperatures four straight days, Friday to Monday, has moved on and temperatures should climb into the high 30s and 40s by this weekend and early next week.

“We have milder air trying to come in,” Harris said.

He said several inches of snow could fall Friday and Saturday, but rain is also likely.

“It’s going to warm up a lot and rather quickly,” Harris said.

Harris said it reached -17 degrees at 5:45 a.m. Saturday in Coeur d’Alene, breaking the cold mark of -8 degrees for Jan. 13 set in 1916, more than 100 years ago.

Harris said it reached -19 degrees Saturday at points north of Coeur d’Alene. 

Monday’s low in Coeur d'Alene was -7 degrees.

“Quite an improvement from 17 below,” Harris said.

The weekend cold snap covered nearly 80% of the country, Harris said.

“This is one of the worst cold waves in a century,” he said.

There were reports of water pipes freezing and breaking at homes, businesses and schools in North Idaho.

Craig Etherton, city of Coeur d’Alene deputy fire marshal, said the EntertainMart on Appleway Avenue suffered some damage. The Super 1 store in Rathdrum sustained damage from broken water pipes over the weekend but reopened soon after.

Etherton said there were also reports of people slipping and falling on ice over the weekend.

The Post Falls Library is closed until further notice due to a broken sprinkler system that caused damage over the weekend.

The burst pipes were discovered early Sunday, before the library’s doors opened to the public. Though the cold weather is the suspected culprit, the reason for the burst pipes remains unconfirmed at this time.

“We have turned the fire and sprinkler system off, which means we can’t have anyone in the building,” said Cassie Robertson, communications director for the Community Library Network. “We hope to reopen as soon as we can.”

All other CLN locations will be open for regular business hours.