Portland, [OR.] metro area braces for deep freeze [Willamette Valley also]

KGW.com ^ | 12-29-03 | ABE ESTIMADA and JIM PARKER

[Salvation]

For your information.....

Storm watch -- Oregon, Northern California

[Salvation]

OK, all you Easterners can laugh since we don't know how to drive in the snow here.

Really is a rarity in Western Oregon.

[Salvation]

Storm strands hundreds of I-5 motorists

Storm strands hundreds of I-5 motorists

05:16 PM PST on Monday, December 29, 2003

By AP and kgw.com Staff

ASHLAND, Ore. -- Police used snowmobiles to bring food, gas and water to hundreds of stranded drivers Monday after a fierce snowstorm closed nearly 150 miles of Interstate 5 in California and Oregon.

The northbound lanes of Interstate 5 on the Siskiyou Pass reopened at 4 p.m., following a 19-hour closure. The southbound I-5 lanes will remain closed as emergency crews continue to clear the roadway. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the Oregon State Police estimated the southbound lanes will reopen by 8 p.m., depending on weather and traffic conditions.

Heavy snow covers Interstate 5 about one mile north of the Siskiyou Summit. (ODOT traffic camera)

"We have people with children, with medication needs, people who are on oxygen and did not bring an extra tank," said Jared Castle, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

"I understand that everyone is cold, wet and tired," Castle said. "We've got crews working around the clock, and we have snowdrifts that are up to 5 or 6 feet in some areas."

"We just had unusually heavy holiday traffic," said John Vial, Oregon Department of Transportation district manager. "The call made to shut it down wasn't made in time. Those are tough decisions. We are not going to get all of them right."

On the California side of the border, stranded motorists were on their way by 12:30 p.m. Monday, and that there were no injuries or accidents to report, said Sgt. Don Jordan of the California Highway Patrol.

The California stretch of the freeway was expected to open by evening, Jordan said.

The National Weather Service said as much as 2 feet of snow had fallen along Interstate 5, which was shut down from Redding, Calif., to Ashland.

Police dealt with dozens of minor accidents after vehicles spun out of control on the icy roads. Oregon State Police Lt. Kurt Barthel said a 57-year-old man died of a heart attack while he was trying to help other drivers put chains on their tires.

Families stuck on the highway were being urged to remain in their cars, and to use their cell phones only in case of emergency. Many of them had been stranded since Sunday.

Hope Peelle, of Puyallup, Wash., said she borrowed water from another driver to make formula for her 9-month-old daughter, and kept the bottle warm with her body heat. She and her husband, Victor Vega, were on their way home from visiting relatives in Ontario, Calif. The family filled up their digital camera with snow pictures, and turned the heater on intermittently to keep warm.

"I can tell you this: I'm flying next time," Vega said.

Trucker Dave Strong had been on the highway since Sunday evening.

"A car slid out in front of us, and stopped, and that was the end of that story," Strong said.

Sandra Palmer, manager of the Amerihost Inn in Yreka, Calif., said she had to walk a mile in 3 feet of snow to reach work before dawn Monday because she couldn't get her car out of her garage.

"It took me an hour and a half to get to work," she said. "It's horrible when you're walking in the snow."

Elsewhere in Oregon, Pendleton received about 6 inches of snow -- the most the city has seen in one single storm in nearly a decade. Portland got a dusting during the morning rush hour, causing traffic tie-ups across the metro area, but by early afternoon the sun was shining.

About 42,000 Portland General Electric GE customers were without power at the height of the outage and traffic was snarled after 6 inches of snow fell. 18,000 PGE customers were without power as of Monday evening.

[firebrand]

The hardest hit metro area in the Willamette Valley was Salem

Good luck, Salvation! LOL

[Salvation]

Snow storm smashes into Salem 04:32 PM PST on Monday, December 29, 2003 By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff SALEM -- Roger Kuhlman put his truck into four-wheel drive early Monday morning as he prepared to go through his west Salem neighborhood to work. He got to the street. The truck didn’t move. “I could hardly get out,” Kuhlman said. Kuhlman, the engineering and operations manager for Salem Electric utility, felt first-hand what impact a surprise snow storm had on Salem, Oregon’s capital city. A snow-laden tree fell into the backyard of this west Salem home. (kgw.com photo by Jim and Eva Collins) The storm packed its fiercest wintry punch for Salem, which saw up to a foot of snow in some areas. The Pacific storm system that brought the snow was aimed almost directly at the Salem area, said KGW meteorologist Bruce Sussman. “Salem got a more direct blow from the storm than (Portland) did,” Sussman said. Kuhlman said about six inches of snow fell on his west Salem neighborhood. The bad weather caused power to wink out for some neighborhoods in west Salem, Keizer and north Salem where Salem Electric serves its customers, Kuhlman said. Crews were working as fast as possible to pull fallen trees from Salem Electric’s lines. But that wasn’t the worst that the snow storm left in its wake. Snow blankets this west Salem neighborhood street. (kgw.com photo by Jim and Eva Collins) Trees laden with heavy snow broke, crashing onto roadways. Tree limbs fell into power lines, causing power to arc in some areas. Between midnight and 10 a.m., when the snow fell, the Salem Fire Department responded to about 108 calls for help, said deputy fire marshal Sean Mansfield. Mansfield said he wasn’t sure how many people may have been injured from storm-related accidents. “We’re running crazy right now,” Mansfield said. Most of PGE’s power outages were in the Salem area, where as many as 34,000 customers were affected, said Mark Fryburg, a utility spokesman. By late Monday afternoon, about 15,000 customers were still without electricity in the Salem area and the Highway 18 corridor. The toughest outage was between Grand Ronde and Willamina west of Salem, where tree limbs crashed into a 57,000-volt line there, Fryburg said. Crews ventured into the countryside and using chainsaws to cut the branches away. The largest power outages were being reported throughout south Salem, Fryburg said. All available crews that were finished dealing with Portland area electricity problems were scrambled immediately to Salem, he said. Contractors for PGE were also called in to help deal with Salem’s electricity emergency. “It’s all hands on deck,” Fryburg said. “By this evening, the majority of customers will probably be back up,” he said. “I’m only optimistic because the weather’s improved, but we wont’ know how bad some of this is until we get there.” The storm closed schools throughout the Salem metro area, including Chemeketa Community College, Western Baptist College, the Christian Center Academy and Daycare, and the Sonshine School daycare. The Community Action Head Start center started two hours late due to inclement weather.

[Salvation]

And guess whose car is still in the garage!??

[jimtorr]

Oh. I guess I should call my brother, rontorr. He lives in South Salem.

[Salvation]

I don't think South Salem had as much as I did here in North Salem.

[Salvation]

Oregon Ping!

[SAMWolf]

I still can't get over how the Valley shuts down over a snow that would barely get a mention in the news back in the Midwest.

[Who dat?]

Portland is kind of pretty at times. I lived there from about 1980 – 1992. I’ve seen freezing rain, freezing fog, “silver thaw” – I still don’t know what it is but everything is coated in ice, black ice, and regular ice too.

Portland itself didn’t get much sticking snow, IIRC. Neither did Laramie (because it blew into Nebraska or someplace).

Laramie and Portland have something in common because the Columbia River gorge has some howling winds at times. It’ll get back to overcast/misting in a few days I’ll bet.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Just shoveled for an hour and a half & havn't made a dent in the drive.

[Tailback]

If I hadn't put in for vacation a month ago I'd be driving either a sander or a snowplow in Marion County tonight. I was working on Wheatland Ferry last night and the weather was nasty but no snow @ 10:30pm It was a big surprise waking up this morning! This is the most snow I can remember since 1996.

[JimSEA]

Years back, I moved to Roseburg from Elko, NV with the biggest plus being the ice-free / snow-free winters. The downside is that on those rare occasions when it does snow or ice up, the drivers go nuts. I may stay in my nice warm house tomarrow. I came back from Southeast Asia and 86F for this?? Ugh!

[Tailback]

I still can't get over how the Valley shuts down over a snow that would barely get a mention in the news back in the Midwest.

We don't salt roads here and we don't have the number of sanders and plows like the Midwest does. Salting makes a huge difference but has a pretty bad environmental impact. Our snow events rarely last more than 3 days so "shutting down" isn't really a big deal.

[SAMWolf]

Yeah most of the snow here is gone already, and I sure don't miss having my car rusted out by the salt.

Juat not used to having a few inches of snow being the main topic in the news all day.

[CyberCowboy777]

I just came from St. Helens to Washougal, WA. - Hwy 30 froze over right after I went through.... my brother behind me by about 15 minutes witnessed 5 or 6 accidents - including complete rollovers.

St. Johns still has snow on the ground.

Nasty roads out there folks - stay safe.

[DeSoto]

Our snow events rarely last more than 3 days so "shutting down" isn't really a big deal.

I also live just outside Salem, and I have looked at the forecast for this area, and it looks like snow, off and on, for the next several days. Look here.

I took pictures today of the damage to my place. A huge limb (about 24") split off an oak tree and crashed on top of some of my out buildings, completely destroyed my greenhouse. 8^(

[CyberCowboy777]

I have had snow quite a few days this year already (I live up the gorge @ 1500ft) - I can drive in it fine..... but man when I get down in the valley.... those low landers scare me.

[SAMWolf]

those low landers scare me.

I grew up in the Chicago area and you're right they are scary.