Icy roads cause crashes; more Tri-City snow possible

More snow is possible in the Tri-Cities on Monday, following a snowy Sunday with multiple car crashes around the Mid-Columbia.

Several resulted in injuries, including one that sent a Kennewick toddler to the hospital.

The National Weather Service predicts a 40 percent chance of snow Monday, and a slight chance of snow again Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Highs should continue to be near or a little below freezing through Wednesday, with colder weather by the time 2016 begins. Normal lows for the start of January in the Tri-Cities are about 29 degrees and normal highs are about 42 degrees.

Early predictions are for highs later this week of about 23 to 25 degrees Thursday through Saturday and lows falling into the teens by Wednesday or the night of New Year’s Eve.

Lows in the teens are expected to continue through at least Saturday night.

Some of the worst roads in the Mid-Columbia on Sunday were in Grant County late in the morning, with two crashes that injured Tri-City residents.

A Kennewick 1-year-old was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland after the Chevrolet Tracker his family was traveling in rolled.

Joy Luna, 39, of Kennewick, was driving the car northbound eight miles south of Mattawa on Highway 243 at 11:04 a.m., said the Washington State Patrol.

The car left the highway, rolled and came to rest on its wheels in a field. It was traveling too fast for the road conditions, the patrol said.

Joy Luna and two other passengers in the car, 16-year-old Shylo Luna and 13-year-old Timothy Luna, also of Kennewick, had minor injuries but were not taken to a hospital.

The condition of Stanley Luna, 1, was not immediately available. He was in a car seat, the patrol said.

In the second Grant County crash, a Pasco driver was injured when he lost control of his car near Mattawa, said the Washington State Patrol.

Yevegeniy Sherepitko, 20, of Pasco, was driving a Toyota Celica four miles north of Mattawa at 10:57 a.m. Sunday and lost control as the road curved to the right, the patrol said.

His car spun and hit a Nissan pickup driven by Celso Venegas Magana, 41, of Royal City, the patrol said.

Venegas Magana was uninjured, but Sherepitko was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center as a precaution.

The state patrol said he was driving too fast for the road conditions.

In the early afternoon Sunday, a one-car crash on Interstate 82 four miles south of Kennewick slowed traffic and sent one man to the hospital.

Evan Bronkema, 69, of Vancouver, was driving south at 12:27 p.m. when his Toyota RAV4 left the highway, hit an embankment and rolled, the patrol said.

He was taken to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

This story was originally published December 27, 2015 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Icy roads cause crashes; more Tri-City snow possible."