LAKE OSWEGO, Pray. (AP) – A winter storm covered the Pacific Northwest with ice and snow on Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and disrupting travel across the region.
The freezing rain left roads, power lines and trees covered with ice in the Portland, Oregon area, and by Saturday morning more than 270,000 people were without power. Extreme conditions, energy loss and transportation problems led Oregon Governor Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency on Saturday afternoon.
“The crews are at full strength now and are coordinating with local emergency response teams in communications for emergency services, such as heating centers,” Brown said in a statement. “I am committed to making state resources available to ensure that crews have the resources they need on the ground.”
Winter storms and extreme cold have affected much of the western United States, putting homeless communities at risk. Volunteers and shelter workers were trying to ensure that homeless residents in Casper, Wyoming, were inside the house, while the National Weather Service warned that the thermal sensation reached 35 degrees below zero over the weekend. Officials in western Washington and western Oregon have opened warming shelters in an effort to protect homeless people from rain and cold.
Power cuts in the Portland area could extend over the weekend to some, said Elizabeth Lattanner, a spokeswoman for PGE, one of the region’s largest electricity providers.
“In storms like these, the restoration takes time due to all the challenges that our teams face in reaching the restoration sites and repairing these outages,” said Lattanner. “We have over 600 PGE and contracted personnel responding to the storm – everything is ready to be used.”
Many ice-laden trees broke under the weight, falling into power lines and causing the transformers to explode in showers of blue and orange sparks. At noon on Saturday, more than 1,200 PGE power lines were shut down, Lattanner said.
Brian Zevenbergen on Saturday watched a team saw two large ice-covered trees that had fallen in his garage overnight, narrowly missing two cars parked there. His home on Lake Owego had also lost power during the night. Around the corner, another huge tree blocked the street in the southern suburb of Portland and had turned off a public light in the city.
“The night before, everything was up and this morning the two trees blocked me at the driveway and blocked at least half the street,” he said. “Friends at the lowest levels have power, so I have invitations to go out there.”
The ice and the loss of energy did not stop the children from rejoicing with a second consecutive day of sledding in a place that rarely sees prolonged blizzards. Residents blocked the streets with cones and chased away snowplows so that children could sled down the ice-covered hills.
Ice and snow caused treacherous driving conditions, forcing Oregon transportation officials to close Interstate 84 at the Columbia River Gorge, and the regional transit agency TriMet suspended all bus and train services in the region.
TriMet spokeswoman Aunt York asked people to avoid all travel unless it was an emergency. “It is very dangerous out there,” York wrote in a statement.
Police in Salem, Oregon, also warned residents of Marion and Polk counties to watch out for falling power lines and falling tree branches, and Oregon State Police said that fallen trees blocked several roads in the region.
Some Washington State residents were also hit by the weather, with snow falling across the Seattle area on Saturday morning and freezing rain falling along the coast in Grays Harbor County. The city of Seattle activated its Emergency Operations Center on Saturday morning to coordinate the city’s response to the winter storm.
Heavy snowfall has also led to dangerous driving conditions in parts of eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho, with Malheur County, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho, expected to get six inches of snow on Saturday afternoon.
The National Meteorological Service said the three states must prepare for another winter humidity wave to hit the northwest on Sunday night, potentially leading to heavy snowfalls by Monday. “Unstable winter conditions” are likely to continue throughout the week, the National Weather Service said Saturday morning.
Western Washington was expected to receive 8 to 15 cm of snow on Saturday, with an additional 5 cm of snow possible on Sunday and Monday. The rain falling on the accumulated snow has increased the possibility of urban flooding occurring on Sunday or Monday night in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy snow has created dangerous avalanche conditions in many areas of the Olympic Games and Cascades mountains, with large avalanches possible. Payette Avalanche Center officials in midwestern Idaho also warned of an increased risk of avalanches in the coming days.
Idaho’s eastern neighbors have been hit by extremely cold weather, with the National Weather Service warning of dangerous chills in Montana and Wyoming. Cold winds were expected to reach 50 degrees below zero in Billings and near Missoula, Montana, and almost as low in parts of Wyoming.
Chills so low can cause burns on exposed skin in just a few minutes. The intense cold should last for the entire weekend.
The National Meteorological Service has warned that the thermal sensation can be dangerous for pets and young animals, at a time when the calving season is starting for many livestock farmers.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center also warned of dangerous avalanche conditions in areas around Apsen, Steamboat and Flat Tops, Grand Mesa and Gunnison. Freezing temperatures with subzero lows were expected to last until Monday morning in Denver and the Colorado plains, according to the National Weather Service.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.