Local snow, ice rapidly giving way to rain

Snowbound Clark County residents emerged from their homes today, ready to say goodbye to freezing temperatures and to return to normalcy.

Within the next day or two, most of the county’s snowy landscape will be replaced by mud and strong rains, said Beth Burgess, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Temperatures will continue to climb during the week, with highs of 45 predicted for Tuesday and 49 for Wednesday. Rainfall is expected to continue throughout the week in Vancouver.

“We’re not expecting flooding, but there’s the potential for it, and rivers are likely to rise,” Burgess said.

Some cold, slick conditions are likely to continue closer to the Columbia River Gorge, and new snow will continue in areas above 5,000 feet in elevation. Some school districts reported late starts for Tuesday morning.

For much of the county, though, things should finally get closer to seasonal norms Tuesday.

“We should see 24 to 36 hours or longer of steady melting,” Burgess said.

Some parts of Clark County have seen up to a foot of snow since the first storm rolled in on Thursday. Preliminary totals showed 12 inches of snow in Ridgefield, 9 inches in Washougal, 8 inches in Vancouver, 8 to 10 inches in Salmon Creek and 5 to 8 inches in Portland, according to the National Weather Service.

“This past week was a classic example of nearly the perfect snowfall setup for Portland, Vancouver and the Willamette Valley,” said Steve Pierce, president of the Oregon chapter of the American Meteorological Society. “Cold arctic air swept down from Canada, followed by several Pacific storms sliding over top of the cold air.”

With the first day of spring on March 20 approaching, the area might have seen the last snowfall for the season — at least it seems that way, Burgess said.

“Once we get past Valentine’s Day, that’s a good cutoff for meteorological seasons,” Burgess said. “But then again, it’s been anything but normal this season, so all bets are off.”

Back to school

Both Washington State University Vancouver and Clark College opened late today after shutting down since Friday. Today, the main road on the hilly campus at WSU Vancouver was plowed and clear. Student Kaitlin Perkins, 25, of La Center stopped near Firstenburg Fountain to build a miniature snowman she topped with a tangerine.

“I’m happy to be back at class,” said the biology and environmental science major. She said she thought her snowman would “be a good welcome back.”

She was greeted by a barefoot Ryan Griffith, 22, her friend from the Environmental Science and Sustainability Club on campus. Despite the just-above-freezing temperature, Griffith said he has been barefoot since fall semester.

“It’s a constant reminder to me that there are people on Earth who can’t afford shoes,” he said.

Going barefoot last Thursday, when temperatures dipped below freezing and up to seven inches of snow covered the ground, was “painful,” Griffith said. “I couldn’t feel my feet.”

Families escape

Although Clark County public schools were closed today, most branches of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library system were open after being closed over the weekend. Families with young children found respite from the snow, ice and closed schools.

During the snow days at home, Erin Prusse and her husband kept their three kids busy playing board games, cutting out paper snowflakes, making banana bread and sledding.

“It was nice family time,” Prusse said.

But when schools were closed again today, “as soon as we heard the roads were clear, we piled into the car and came to the library,” Prusse said. “Change of scenery. Change of toys.”

Prusse brings her children to the library about twice a month to check out new books and sometimes to catch story time.

Today, Prusse’s son Dean, 7, a student at Felida Elementary, was hunting for new books to read. Prusse sat on the floor at the base of the rocket in the children’s area and read “Snow Flakes and Ice Skates: A Winter Counting Book” to Grant, 3, and Lily, 11 months.

Christie Walker also brought her three kids to the library. While Ben, 9 months, relaxed in his stroller, Walker’s 6-year-old twins, Nathan and Andrew, who attend Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, searched the stacks, adding books to their pile to read at home: “Pokemon Adventures,” “Focus on Insects” and “Bats,” which Nathan was checking out for a second time. The book’s cover features a close-up photo of a bat with gigantic ears.

“Bats,” Walker said. “Not again.”