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Snow slow to melt; roads still present challenges

Possibility of flooding next week looms due to heavy rains, snowmelt

By Andy Matarrese, Columbian environment and transportation reporter, and
Emily Gillespie, Columbian Breaking News Reporter
Published: January 13, 2017, 8:52pm
4 Photos
Outdoor enthusiasts of all ages were treated to free hot chocolate from Latte Da at Franklin Park on Friday afternoon.
Outdoor enthusiasts of all ages were treated to free hot chocolate from Latte Da at Franklin Park on Friday afternoon. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Sledders at Franklin Park, already treated to another day of canceled classes and continued deep snow, enjoyed free hot chocolate Friday afternoon, courtesy of the Northwest Neighborhood Association.

Neighborhood leaders converged on the park to warm up the snow play as county residents enjoyed, or endured, another day of winter weather as snow-packed and ice-covered roadways persisted across the county. Those conditions will continue, for the most part, Saturday before warmer temperatures and possible heavy rain forecast for next week.

For Vancouver, forecasters expect Saturday’s high to be around 36 degrees before dropping to around 23 degrees overnight. Another slight thaw before below-freezing temperatures is expected for Sunday as well, so melted snow-turned ice will continue to present a hazard for drivers and pedestrians.

Monday — which students playing in the snow and cabin-feverish parents may remember is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, another day off from school — will see a high of 39 degrees, with rain likely that night.

Laurel McCoy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Portland, said the forecast generally calls for gradual warming until a new and potentially very wet storm system will bring a steep bump in temperatures.

That rainfall and rise in temperatures, into the upper 40s mid-week next week, could be significant enough to cause flooding, according to the weather service.

An atmospheric river, or narrow, east-west flow of water vapor, is forecast to bring ample rain to the area Tuesday and Wednesday, and that system is trapping warm, tropical air.

That means not just rain, but warmer rain. That means snowmelt, McCoy said.

There’s a chance some rivers in Northeast Oregon and Southwest Washington will rise above flood levels. There’s also the possibility of landslides, McCoy said.

“So snowmelt, plus anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of rain, will lead to the rivers getting very full, really fast,” she said. “As we go into the next few days, it’s gong to be very important to keep an eye on the river forecast, for people who live near rivers.”

Since the arrival of the first storms is still days away, it’s difficult to say where they’ll go or how much rain they’ll bring, McCoy said.

“What’s going to end up being the issue is, we still aren’t certain about where the axis of heaviest rain is going to set up,” she said.

Early forecasts say more than 5 inches may fall around the coast and coastal mountains, 2 to 4 inches in the interior lowlands and 3 to 5 inches in the Cascades.

Until then, the snow will likely be slow to melt, and the Water Resources Education Center, among other organizations, rescheduled one event and canceled another.

The center’s regular Second Saturday activities will be delayed until 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 21. The theme will still focus on the Columbia River watershed.

The center’s volunteer beach cleanup for Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been canceled.

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Columbian environment and transportation reporter
Columbian Breaking News Reporter