Weather warning: Heavy snow expected tonight, Thursday

The National Weather Service at Spokane issued a winter weather warning for the Palouse and surrounding areas advising of additional snow accumulation.

While a weak weather system spread light snow Monday night, making for a slippery morning commute, a stronger storm will arrive tonight with heavy snow and mixed precipitation.

Residents in Moscow and Pullman can expect a total of 4-8 inches of snow to fall this evening through Thursday afternoon, according to the warning.

Some areas of northern Idaho and eastern Washington closer to the mountains may see 7-15 inches of snow.

Hazardous conditions could affect the Thursday morning commute, potentially causing major disruptions to travel.

“For many locations this could be the heaviest snow of the year resulting in a very challenging Thursday morning commute,” according to an NWS news release. “By Friday and Saturday the main threat of heavy snow will shift into the mountains of north Idaho and near the Cascades.”

Tonight’s storm should add to already impressive snowfall totals across the region.

In Pullman, a total of 25.5 inches of snow fell in December, more than the average total of 10.3 inches.

Lewiston received a total of 11.2 inches of snow in December, almost all of it coming in the last six days of the month, according to NWS records. The city’s normal December snow accumulation is 4.1 inches.