Snow brings fun, excitement

Snow delighted youngsters in parts of Clark County on Sunday, and it is expected to fall again this afternoon.

With the glee of snow play, however, came the traffic collisions and the prospect of a big Thanksgiving week chill.

Here’s how it looks to Clinton Rockey, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland.

Today: Snow will begin falling in early afternoon, with the heaviest bursts from 4 to 8 p.m. Expect a half-inch in the lowlands and up to 3 inches in areas of north and east Clark County. Columbia River Gorge communities might get 2 to 4 inches.

The morning commute shouldn’t be too treacherous but watch out for the evening commute.

“That (evening commute) is going to be much more challenging,” Rockey said. “You might think about taking off a little early. I think things will get a little nasty.”

By mid-evening, the snow should ease, ushering in colder temperatures by midnight.

Tuesday: “Tuesday morning, it will be quite chilly (23 to 26 degrees), but it will be dry,” Rockey said. The mercury might not get to the 32-freezing mark.

Tuesday night, the temperature will begin dipping.

Wednesday: “We’re going to wake up Wednesday morning and see 17 to 18 degrees (in the Vancouver area),” the meteorologist said. If you live out east or north, he said the thermometer might show 10 degrees.

Thursday: It should be dry with clouds, with a high of 43 and a low of 30.

Working the roads

Roads were being plowed in parts of north and east county on Sunday, reported Jeff Mize of Clark County Public Works. He said crews typically work areas of high elevation, such as Columbia Tie Road near Amboy and the Upper Washougal River area.

He said crews will be monitoring weather and out in force, if necessary, for this morning’s commute.

He said the crews use salt water to cut into the snow and ice.

“As of late Sunday afternoon, we had about 3 inches of accumulation in higher elevations near Washougal and Camas and had a couple of trucks out plowing in that area,” Mize said. “We also had a few additional plows working the higher elevations in north Clark County.”

Sgt. Bill Roberts of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said there were numerous collisions around the county on Sunday, but no serious injuries. “People running off the road into ditches but no injuries,” he said.

“Anything above 500 feet is starting to get pretty icy and snowy. Makes for more hazardous driving. If you don’t need to go out, don’t,” Roberts added.

“People are, thankfully, staying home,” said Vancouver police Officer Missy Skeeter on Sunday evening. She said there was just one non-injury accident in the city as of 6 p.m.

The Washington State Patrol reported some accidents in the snow but none serious, except an Interstate 5 crash near Woodland.

At 7:34 a.m. a 20-year-old Kelso woman, Danielle M. Vanevery, was southbound when she spun out, struck the jersey barrier, rolled her 2001 Ford Explorer and came to rest blocking all three lanes.

A trooper reported she was driving too fast for conditions, which included fog and ice, but was not badly hurt. Traffic was blocked for about 30 minutes.

There was fun, too

In Battle Ground, the holidays came early.

“It’s amazing,” Carrie Rilea said, as she watched her children roll giant snow balls for a snowman. “The kids were like, ‘Yaaay, it looks like Christmas outside.’ … They don’t want to go to school tomorrow.”

No school closures or late openings had been reported as of The Columbian’s press time.

“It’s wonderful,” said Bailey Paris, 11, of Amboy, who was visiting her grandmother. She worked to build a snowman along with Paiten Rilea, 4, Mason Baker, 9, and Landen Rilea, 7.

Carrie’s sister, Amanda Freeman of Brush Prairie, took her 5-month old daughter, Selah, for a brief snow visit.

“She’s like, what is it?” said Selah’s dad, James Freeman.

Nearby, in the Old Town Battle Ground neighborhood, Jamie Schofield took his boys, Hunter, 3, and Carter, 2, for a jaunt in the snow.

“The snow tastes good,” Hunter said.

“I just got the kids up from a nap. It’s pretty big for them,” Jamie said.

Reports of snow

On Sunday afternoon, Columbian weather columnist Pat Timm was getting reports from around the county.

“The snow really varies. I had an inch of snow in Salmon Creek but my daughter in Felida had zero, zip.

“I’ve had a lot of people post on my Facebook page. I had one person just below Yacolt with 2 inches on the ground.”

Continuing, Timm said, “One observer by Battle Ground Lake had 1.3 inches. That was between 3 and 3:30 p.m.

A Hockinson observer reported 2 inches on the ground.