Snow, rain expected today, Saturday

COLUMBIA BASIN - The National Weather Service forecasted hazardous weather on Thursday for Eastern Washington.

Winter storm or snow warnings were in effect Thursday for different areas of Western Washington.

But large storms aren't expected to affect the Moses Lake area over the weekend, said Jeremy Wolf, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

A mix of about an inch of rain and snow will likely fall in Moses Lake on Friday night and Saturday, he said.

"It's a fairly typical pattern we're in now for the next few days," he said.

Nothing substantial is thawing because the overnight lows have been cold, he said.

The daytime highs are warming up to just around the freezing temperature of 32 degrees, he said. Today's low is expected to be 28 degrees.

This week's snow has resulted in Grant County's snow plow drivers working from early in the morning to sometimes after dark, said Derek Pohle, Grant County's public works director and engineer.

County crews have over 2,500 miles of road to maintain and start with main arterial roads, bus routes and move to secondary routes.

He said there's more snow this year as compared to the past five or six years.

"We're spending very little time doing anything else but snow control," he said.

There were 10 collisions in the Columbia Basin reported to the state patrol Thursday morning, said state patrol spokesman Rich Magnussen. The collisions weren't serious and resulted in vehicle damage.

Drivers should slow down and increase their following distances to avoid accidents, he said.