By Dee Camp
Chronicle staff

     OMAK – A winter weather advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for the Okanogan Valley and points east.
     The advisory runs from Oroville to Brewster-Bridgeport, and also includes Disautel Pass and Nespelem.
     About an inch of snow had fallen in the Omak-Okanogan area by mid-morning Friday, Nov. 13.
     The advisory was in effect until noon, the weather service said.
     “A quick-moving cold front will bring snow accumulations of one to two inches to the region today,” according to the advisory. “The highest accumulations will fall from Malott to Disautel Pass” on state Highway 155.
     Two to three inches are predicted for Disautel Pass.
     “A winter weather advisory for snow means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties,” the weather service said. “Be prepared for snow-covered roads and limited visibilities and use caution while driving.”
     As of 7:30 a.m., temperatures ranged from 17 degrees at Washington Pass on the North Cascades Highway to 32 at Brewster. Weather was either overcast or snowy.
     According to the state Department of Transportation, state Highway 97 was bare at Brewster, and state Highway 20 had compact snow on Loup Loup Pass and Washington Pass, and was bare at Twisp.
     The North Cascades Highway, which was closed earlier in the week because of avalanche danger, is open. As of 11:07 a.m. Friday, there was compact snow and ice on the highway at Washington Pass and it was snowing.
     “More snow is falling at Snoqualmie than anywhere else,” DOT spokesman Jeff Adamson said.
     “It's exciting to see the first of the lowland snow - but this isn't a big deal in terms of maintenance ,” he said. “It’s business as usual with the exception that few drivers have their winter driving mindset in place, so it does typically lead to a bunch of vehicles off the road because they were going too fast.”
     He said it’s too warm to put out liquid anti-icer and there’s not enough snow in most places to merit plowing.
     The forecast calls for temperatures to rise above freezing Friday afternoon.
     According to the forecast, there will be patchy fog later Friday and into Saturday, with a 30 percent chance of snow Sunday.