Why we skipped class......

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Saturday morning the wife and I departed early to drive to Spokane's WoodCraft store for a scroll saw class. While the weather was good here in the valley, once we crested the valley wall, things changed. We elected to go northbound on US-195 as on a normal day and weather, that drive cuts about 30-40 minutes off the trip. 8 miles north, the weather turned horrible. Snow with later reported winds of 35mph and gusts into the 50+mph. Whiteout conditions prevailed.

North of the farming community of Colton,WA in whiteout conditions we drove into a cutbank where momentarily there was improved visibility. There sat a pickup off the road, off the shoulder, passenger side front wheel suspended over the edge resting on air over a ditch. A school bus had stopped, a truck behind him and the bus driver and the driver of the offroaded pickup were talking. As we left the windbreak of the cutbank, I had a bad feeling and turned on my emergency flashers. The SUV following me did the same. Some 400 yards ahead a southbound caravan of 5 cars and pickups were followed by a semi.

We drove another 4 miles, discussed the next 95 miles of this and turned around and headed south on US-195 towards our home in Lewiston. Using a cell phone, the wife called WoodCraft and explained we wouldn't be there for the class.We hadn't gone far in the continuing whiteout when in my rearview mirror, I saw an ambulance with emergency lights flashing. I pulled over onto the shoulder while two ambulances and two fire department rescue trucks passed us. A couple miles south just short of the aforementioned cutbank, we were waved off the road and told to wait. There were 5 cars there too. Then another fire dept rescue truck arrived, 3 Washitngton State troopers in cars and a sheriff's department cruiser. This was on the north side of the accident. We don't know what was happening on the south side.

After 1 1/2 hours, a fireman came back, informed us that we were to follow a rescue truck back north to Pullman, Wa as the highway would be closed for several more hours. He confirmed that the school bus, the trucks and the 5 vehicles were involved in the accident. The semi driver was able to stop without getting involved. An ambulance departed then the rescue truck with lights flashing led us away.

At Pullman, we turned east and drove to Moscow, Id where we picked up US-95 and drove the 30 miles home.The next day it was reported that though the bus had a driver, a teacher and 12 students on it and was involved in the accident, nobody aboard was hurt. Of the 7 cars and pickups involved, one couple with minor injuries were taken by ambulance to the Pullman hospital, treated and released.If we had been 30-60 seconds later, we could have been involved as the fireman said there were vehicles all over the place in that cutbank area.We skipped class but not because we wanted to do so.

In 30 years living in Idaho, elk hunting in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho, skiing hard in Washington, Idaho and Montana, this is the first time weather kept us from doing what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. I can handle ice and deep snow. "0" visibility is a different matter, however.
 
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Glad you all are OK and that there were only minor injuries in what could have been a large scale disaster. There will be time for class later.
 
Glad to hear you guys had such great timing and that no one was seriously hurt!
Being from Canada, I know all about white-out conditions, you cannot explain it to someone who has not been in it, in a car your world just ends on the other side of the windshield! :eek: I've been in conditions where I could not the the front edge of the hood of my truck! The weather can be very humbling!

Again, glad you are safe!
 
another seasoned snow man, and driving in the stuff always demands being alert, and listening to your instinks can save you.. glad it worked out well for you and the rest involved
 
Glad you got thru that one unscathed!

We had a similar situation near here last Saturday. Near the intersection of I-79 and I-80 in western Pennsylvania (about thirty miles form here) there was a whiteout condition that caused multi-car accidents on both interstates. One involved about 35 vehicles, and the other one, on I-79, involved over fifty vehicles. Three people were killed in that one. Both highways were closed for over twelve hours, and as of yesterday afternoon, there were still smashed up vehicles alongside I-79 waiting to be towed away.

That particular area is notorious for bad weather, but that's the worst it's been in years. Witnesses said the whiteout happened so suddenly that they were fully involved within it in a matter of seconds, and had no chance to pull off or avoid it.
 
Sounds like you two made the right decision to turn around. Glad the other people's injuries were no worse than they were.
 
There have been a few times I've decided that the trip wasn't worth my life and turned around, even here in Niagara. We didn't really have a winter this year though, and I've only just started driving again after the heart surgery, but I've had some pretty scary incidents, and seen a lot of cars off the road. Funny how many of them seem to be 4x4s.
 
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