Rockslide blocks Warm Springs in Boise; Snow, rain snarl Treasure Valley yet again

Several large rocks fell from the Warm Springs Mesa Tuesday, and the Ada County Highway District has closed Warm Springs Avenue from Starcrest Drive to East Parsnip Peak Drive until the risk of further rockslides lessens.

In addition, Starview Driver is closed from Warm Springs to South Mill Point Lane.

Residents can use Starcrest Drive and Windsong Drive for local access.

ACHD believes the rocks are falling because of the recent rain and thaw. “The winter’s weather pattern ... is believed to have touched off a fresh round of erosion,” states a news release sent out at about 5:45 p.m.

The same area was closed for two weeks in January 2015 after a 50-ton boulder fell onto Warm Springs Avenue.

A power outage that started around 11 a.m. closed Bogus Basin for most of Tuesday. With power restored at 5 p.m., the mountain should be fully open Wednesday, according to news releases.

People who bought a day lift ticket for Tuesday will be offered a weather check for skiing on another day.

Another 3 inches of snow fell overnight in most of the Treasure Valley. The good news: You just might be able to leave your shovel in the garage for awhile.

The National Weather Service expects a warm front to blow through the Boise area starting about noon Tuesday that should melt the snow by Wednesday. The front will also bring from a half to three-quarters of an inch of rain, meaning sloppy conditions for commuters and schools still struggling to recover from storms earlier this month.

“It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” said Josh Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

And that’s left residents scrambling to find things like ice melt, hard to find in local stores since last week.

WinCo Foods expects a truck of ice melt to arrive Tuesday and to be on the shelves at its five Treasure Valley stores on Wednesday.

So far this winter, WinCo has sold 7,667 bags of ice melt at its Treasure Valley stores. During the same time period last year it had sold 1,755 bags.

The cities of Kuna and Nampa became the latest to issue emergency declarations, a step that eases purchasing requirements and makes it simpler for cities to quickly get resources to deal with an extreme situation. In Nampa’s case, two of the city’s four plows are out of commission “due to the non-stop use of equipment since Dec. 5,” a press release states. Weather delayed a parts shipment that was expected Monday; now, a local machine shop is making temporary blade parts that the city hopes to start using later Tuesday.

Nampa crews will focus on residential neighborhoods and “areas of concern,” while the city has now contracted with three private companies to clear main and secondary roads in the city.

The high temperature Tuesday will hover around 40 degrees. Overnight, the expected low is around 32; temperatures will then drop a bit Wednesday, with a high in the mid-30s and a low around 20 degrees.

Boise, West Ada, Caldwell and Nampa were among the school districts in Southwest Idaho that canceled classes Tuesday. Boise State University called off all classes for the day. College of Idaho and the College of Western Idaho canceled classes before 10 a.m.

In a release to parents, the Boise School District said the weather-related cancellations won’t mean make-up days students — yet. West Ada and Nampa school officials were still sorting out this week what the string of snow days will mean for their schedules.

Slick, snowy conditions for Tuesday morning’s commute are prompting local police agencies to urge drivers to go slow, allow space between vehicles and be patient and alert. Crashes have included one dramatic rollover shortly before 10:15 a.m. where a Toyota Sequoia ended up at the edge of the eastbound Connector right over Franklin Road. No one was injured.

“People just need to be super, super careful,” an Ada County dispatch supervisor said.

At 8 a.m., the Ada County Sheriff’s office tweeted that there had been 51 slide-offs, 33 stalled or stuck cars and eight crashes (two with injuries) since midnight.

In Canyon County, roads are “really bad,” but as of 7:10 a.m. no significant crashes had been reported, a Canyon County sheriff’s dispatcher said. “Maybe people are learning that they need to be careful,” he said. “Stay off the roads if you can.” He said four or five slide-offs have been reported on the county’s roads so far.

At 8 a.m., Idaho Power’s website showed only a couple of minor outages in Southwest Idaho.

School closures and delays

▪ Boise School District

▪ Boise State University

▪ Caldwell School District

▪ College of Idaho (10 a.m. start)

▪ College of Western Idaho (10 a.m. start)

▪ Compass Charter

▪ Gem Prep

▪ Homedale School District

▪ Horseshoe Bend

▪ Kuna School District

▪ Legacy Charter

▪ Liberty Charter School

▪ Middleton School District

▪ Melba School District

▪ Mountain Home School District

▪ Nampa School District

▪ Northwest Nazarene University (9:30 a.m. start)

▪ Parma School District

▪ Riverstone International School

▪ Sage International charter

▪ Vallivue School District

▪ Victory Charter

▪ Weiser School District

▪ West Ada School District

Report your closure to newsroom@idahostatesman.com.

Traffic and road information

▪ An overturned truck and three other vehicles were involved in a crash on westbound Interstate 84 just west of the Eagle exit, obstructing traffic, Idaho State Police reported. No injuries were reported, and it was not initially clear whether all four vehicles were involved in the same crash. An ISP dispatcher said two vehicles are on one side of the lanes and two are on the other side. The crash was reported about 5:40 a.m. and emergency responders are blocking at least one lane, the dispatcher said.

▪ Expect slick and snowy road conditions around the Treasure Valley. Ada County dispatchers said there were about 15 slide-offs reported overnight.

▪ At 5:13 a.m., the Idaho State Police reported that a semi truck had jackknifed on eastbound I-84 at mile marker 38.5, near Garrity Boulevard. The right two lanes are blocked and motorists should expect delays.

▪ Check the Ada County Highway District cameras for current conditions.

▪ Check here for statewide road conditions.

Boise Airport

Check here to see your flight’s status.

Other weather updates

▪ Here’s how to make sure all that rain and melting snow goes down the right drains.

▪ State of emergency in Caldwell.

▪ Payette County warns of possible evacuation as Snake River rises.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 5:08 AM with the headline "Rockslide blocks Warm Springs in Boise; Snow, rain snarl Treasure Valley yet again."