Heavy snow knocking out power, closing roads, but in a beautiful sort of way.

As a clearly impatient and vengeful god continued to punish voters and pundits in the northern hemisphere for ignoring the science on global climate change, the inland Northwest got a heavy dump of wet snow overnight and into Wednesday. The sudden return of winter, with the heavy snow and higher winds snapping tree branches, has caused numerous power outages today in Spokane and the surrounding area.

According to the Spokesman-Review, blowing snow has also caused the Washington State Patrol to close parts of state highway 27 in the Palouse and U.S. highway 95 north of Lewiston.
Earlier this morning, the City of Spokane announced a state 1 snow emergency that requires cars to be moved from all arterials and STA bus routes by 4:30 this afternoon (Wednesday, December 29th). You can access the city’s frequently updated snow plow map by linking here.
A silver lining in this icy disaster is that if you don’t have to be anywhere, it’s really kind of pretty out. Just look out for falling tree branches and be alert to the cries of stranded motorists.