Lights flashing and siren wailing, Trooper Ryan Tanner stepped on the gas as his cruiser headed north in the left shoulder of Interstate 205.
This was not unusual for the eight-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol.
“I spend a lot of my day on the shoulder,” Tanner said Monday night. “You pick up a lot of debris, and nails, and screws.”
Fortunately, he wasn’t picking up snow or ice — at least not yet.
With a winter storm bearing down on Clark County from the north, Tanner raced to a noninjury crash at Highway 500 near Stapleton Road in Vancouver at 5:30 p.m.
The pending threat of ice and snow made it crucial to clear the road as quickly as possible. Residual traffic backups from accidents can themselves create traffic hazards, especially in icy conditions.
“If we get a hard freeze with this kind of moisture, we’re going to get black ice,” Tanner said.
Snow is bad, but black ice may be worse because of the way it lulls drivers into complacency. Anna Pendergrass, the operations manager of Clark County’s 911 dispatch center, said a relatively light coating of snow sent vehicles skidding across north Clark County on Monday.
“This morning, we had a ton of calls,” she said.
As it happened, Pendergrass got an up-close and personal view of the other side of a 911 call on her way home Monday. Heading east on Highway 500, she smashed into a pickup making an illegal U-turn from the other direction.
She shivered as the tow-truck driver hooked up her sport utility vehicle.
“Trying to get home before the snow started,” she said.
Snow held off through the end of the evening commute for most of the Vancouver area Monday night, but Tanner and other public safety officials expect sub-freezing weather could lead to traffic problems this morning.
Tanner has learned to expect trouble in these conditions.
However, the 32-year-old Vancouver native doesn’t buy the notion that residents of Western Washington are exceptionally clueless about driving in snow. He said plenty of accidents happen everywhere, usually because of inattentive drivers going too fast for the conditions.
“The Columbian isn’t going to print a story about a series of crashes in Minneapolis,” he said.
Staying safe in icy conditions means eliminating distractions such as fiddling with the radio, gabbing with passengers, or sipping coffee. “Don’t even think about getting on your cell phone,” he said.
Tanner said Southwest Washington motorists must contend with a wide spectrum of weather conditions. The proximity of the Cascade Range, marine influence from the Pacific Ocean and the outflow of interior air from the Columbia River Gorge can batter area roads with rain, ice or packed snow — sometimes during the course of a single drive.
Drivers have to be prepared.
“There are so many variables around here,” Tanner said. “Conditions can go from bad to worse — or from very bad to not very bad at all — very very quickly.”
Standing along Highway 500 on Monday night, Tanner scuffed his foot against the asphalt. Black ice could be in store.
“It’ll look just like this, except slicker than snot,” he said. “Throw in some snow and ice, and get your usual drunk drivers, and it’s a recipe for disaster.”
Cold-weather precautions
o Slick roads in the Fern Prairie area north of Camas shortly after 9 p.m. may have contributed to an accident where a vehicle sheared off a pole.
o Seven trucks dispatched by the Washington State Department of Transportation worked during the day and all night on Monday in Clark County, putting down dry salt to “pretreat” Interstate 5, Interstate 205 and state Highway 14 to prepare for this morning’s commute, said spokeswoman Heidi Sause. Crews also were closely monitoring temperatures and their secondary focus was roads including state Highway 500.
o In unincorporated Clark County, truck crews plowed roads in higher elevations on the north and east sides of the county on Sunday and Monday, most down to bare pavement, said Jeff Mize with Clark County Public Works.
“We’re in a wait-and-see mode until we get some real weather we can go after,” Mize said about 7:15 p.m. Monday as officials watched for snowfall that turned out to be less than forecast.
The public works department has six sheds housing trucks and plows around the county, and workers who live near them, so they are in position for what’s to come.
At 5 a.m. today, workers around the county were ready to assess the snow and ice situation, and as many as 40 county trucks and crews can be deployed with plows, sand and gravel and saltwater brine to deal with ice and snow if they accumulate on hills and curves, Mize said.
o Driving on icy roads requires extra caution, driving slower and leaving more space between you and the cars ahead, officials say. Motorists also should give themselves more time to get to work.
Emergency officials also advise packing a shovel, warm clothes and other supplies in case you slide off a road.
o With freezing weather here, folks need to disconnect hoses and wrap faucets to prevent water inside from freezing, expanding and breaking pipes, said Loretta Callahan, spokeswoman with Vancouver Public Works. If pipes freeze, you’ll find leaks when they thaw, and that can mean big plumbing bills.
Residents also are responsible for shoveling snow and ice off sidewalks adjacent to their homes, to make them passable, Callahan said. It’s also good to help neighbors, especially elderly ones.
De-icer is OK for sidewalks, but sand isn’t recommended because it can clog drains and cause environmental problems, Callahan said.
