First snowfall delivers traffic collisions
Snow fell in downtown Moses Lake on Wednesday afternoon. The National Weather Service predicted 1 to 3 inches of accumulation.
MOSES LAKE - The season's first snowfall created wet roads and led to dozens of traffic collisions.
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) investigated more than 96 collisions across central Washington between the start of Wednesday's snowfall to 8 a.m. Thursday, according to WSP Lieutenant Kandi Patrick.
"Grant County WSP troopers who work out of the Moses Lake area covered 35 collisions during that time period, and keep in mind those were just the ones they could get to," she said Thursday.
The Grant County Sheriff's Office responded to 18 collisions on county roads between 2:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Kyle Foreman with Grant County Emergency Management.
The high number is about average for the season's first snowfall, said Grant County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ken Jones; who added none of the wrecks included major injuries.
Slick roads led to a few temporary road closures, Foreman said, including Adams Road South being closed Thursday morning when compact snow and ice sent several farm trucks off the road and caused one truck to slip backward and jackknife, blocking traffic.
By Thursday afternoon Ephrata police had responded to just one weather-related collision, when a vehicle slid into a curb and bounced across A Street Northeast, ending up on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road with no injuries.
Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin said Moses Lake patrols responded to just three collisions, none of which resulted in injuries.
Regardless of the posted speed limit, he said ice and snow are factors that should cause people to reduce their speed.
"Basically, people just need to give their selves more time for travel," Ruffin said. "More time to defrost their vehicle, more time because they're hopefully travelling slower and definitely more time to apply the brakes."
Patrick too urged drivers to slow down as well as increase their following distance for winter road conditions.
"The majority of the collisions investigated yesterday could have been prevented if driver's just slowed down," she stated.
Motorists should be prepared for unexpected road closures because of collisions and road conditions and should carry extra food and water in their vehicles along with something to keep warm, she advised.
"Make sure your car has a full tank of gas and that you have checked your tires to make sure they have adequate tread for the roadway," she said. "Your life or the lives of others could depend on you making sure your vehicle is equipped with the proper tires during inclement weather and that you slow down and drive in a prudent manner."
The National Weather Service predicted new snow accumulation of less than a half inch was possible heading into Friday, when another half-inch of snow was likely to fall throughout the evening and overnight, with an expected low of around 17 degrees.
Drivers can check current road conditions by turning to page A2 of the Columbia Basin Herald or going to the Washington Department of Transportation website at www.wsdot.wa.gov.
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