Bitter cold expected after snow

Fast-drifting snow created hazardous driving conditions across the Palouse Wednesday, dumping six to eight inches.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Fugazzi said the weather is expected to take a dive toward extreme cold today, Thursday.

“There’s no snow [expected] the rest of the week but there is a very cold Canadian arctic air mass moving into the area,” Fugazzi said.

Night-time temperatures in the teens or single digits are expected every night until next week with day-time temperatures expected to only rise to the upper teens or low twenties.

“The big story after the wind dies down is it’s going to be very cold conditions,” Fugazzi said.

The cold is expected to last until the middle of next week. Very little snow is predicted until the middle of next week as well, according to the NWS.

The cold won’t be lethal for the Palouse winter wheat crop with the snow cover already in place, said Washington Association of Wheat Growers president Ben Barstow.

“Winter wheat is really pretty tough unless you get down below zero,” Barstow said. He added the snow throughout November and December has been a consistently good cover for the tough crop.