Storm shuts down 95, knocks out power

COEUR d’ALENE — Snow and ice combined to make for treacherous traveling on Friday, resulting in numerous accidents.

The Idaho State Police temporarily closed U.S. 95 at milepost 426 south of Coeur d’Alene about 9 Friday morning due to icy conditions. A fuel truck reportedly crashed around Cougar Gulch. There were no reports of injuries.

So terrible were conditions that a 67-mile stretch of U.S. 95 in north-central Idaho was closed in both direction from late morning until about 1:30 p.m. from Whitebird Grade to Culdesac.

A small avalanche near Grangeville, milepost 239, also temporarily closed 95.

For those heading west toward Seattle, Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie pass was mostly bare and wet with slush and ice in places late Friday.

A winter storm warning was in effect late Friday for the Silver Valley. The Idaho Transportation Department reported heavy snow and winds up to 45 mph at Lookout Pass.

The Idaho State Police urged drivers to slow down and leave plenty of room between vehicles as the weekend forecast

"Driving engaged and alert can reduce your chances of being involved in a crash," ISP said.

A storm that hit Washington knocked out power to thousands of Avista customers around the Inland Northwest. Power was restored in most areas within hours, but Avista said some customers in northeastern Washington could be without power for a day or two.

Avista said about 8,000 customers were affected by the outages Friday.

The weekend weather forecast calls for more of the same cold and wet conditions, including some scattered snow.