Lingering ice and show continues to be a challenge for anyone needing to get out of the house today in Southwest Washington.
Noah Alviz, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Portland office, said light to moderate freezing rain will continue throughout the region through tonight due to sustained eastern winds from the “freezer door” of the Columbia River Gorge.
Come Friday, however, there isn’t much concern of any more freezing rain or snow, he said. Temperatures are expected to slightly warm up to the mid-high 30s with light showers.
By the weekend, Alviz said, the region will be transitioning back to more seasonable weather, with temperatures rising to the mid-40s. Rain can be expected through the weekend and into next week, which should help thaw remaining ice and snow.
C-Tran’s Vine on Mill Plain and Fourth Plain boulevards are both back on regular routes after several days of challenges, though passengers should board at adverse weather stops. Turtle Place station remains closed; passengers should use the stop at Eighth and Main streets. Routes across the county remain suspended, delayed or on snow routes, though some have come back online this afternoon. Specifics can be found at c-tran.com.
Until further notice, both directions of state Highway 14 between Mileposts 19 and 65 — east of Washougal to the Hood River Bridge — are closed to vehicles over 10,000 GVW, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Traction tires required for all passenger vehicles
Officials are advising people to limit travel and carry emergency supplies if they must go out. Check road conditions at The Columbian’s live traffic map. For the latest on highways across Washington, visit wsdot.com/travel/real-time or follow WSDOT on Twitter. In Oregon, visit tripcheck.com.
Clark Public Utilities has seen outages throughout the day with nearly 3,000 customers recently restored at 3:30 p.m. Visit www.clarkpublicutilities.com/outages-safety to report an outage.
NWS Portland issued another Ice Storm Warning for the western Columbia River Gorge, saying significant icing expected. The highest ice accumulations are expected west of Cascade Locks with a wintry mix expected Cascade Locks to the east. “Total snow accumulations of up to 1 to 4 inches and ice accumulations of up to one half an inch. Winds gusting as high as 60 mph.”
School districts across Clark County were closed again today, and many had declared two-hour late starts for Friday. Get complete details at www.columbian.com/school-closures.
City of Vancouver offices will reopen at noon Friday. Clark County offices are closed to in-person services. Other municipal offices around Southwest Washington may be closed to in-person services. Check websites or social media before venturing out.
Court Clark County Superior Court will be closed Friday to in-person services except for the juvenile offender docket at 9 a.m. and the adult first appearance docket at 1:30 p.m. Clark County District Court also is closed to in-person services, although all dockets will be held virtually via Zoom. For questions regarding Superior Court please contact 564-397-2150. For questions about District Court please contact 564-397-2424.
Clark College has canceled Heather McGhee’s keynote address and hopes to reschedule at a later date. The college previously postponed the state of the college address scheduled for today.
