We're in for what looks like a final round of icy weather starting some time this afternoon. We're going to keep all the bits of news—that's road closures, business closures, power outages, new weather alerts and the like—contained in this ever-updated story. No account or subscription required.
Already gripped in frozen temperatures and an icy winter storm, Oregon could now be on for round two, the Portland office of the National Weather Service said in an Ice Storm Warning issued Monday morning.
"We understand that early releases can be an inconvenience, but the safety of our students and staff is our top priority," the Banks School District said in a notice announcing a three hour early release for Friday. "We encourage everyone to plan accordingly and make the necessary arrangements."
Every highway in this newspaper's territory—that's 6, 26, and 47—had a disabled vehicle or a crash when the map was checked at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation's tripcheck.com.
For thousands of Portland General Electric (and West Oregon Electric Co-Op, at least in Timber) customers, high winds meant power outages across the region, some overnight and into Tuesday morning. One BSD bus route was altered due to a downed tree.
As winter weather began arriving in mountain passes, the Oregon Department of Transportation issued a warning: The state was running out of money to plow roads and could “no longer maintain the state’s transportation system at the same level as we have in the past.” Drivers would need to anticipate
Oregon’s top elected officials pledged to spend millions of dollars on winter road maintenance after dire warnings from the state Department of Transportation that highways would go unplowed because of a budget shortfall.
Fire danger was at moderate until Thursday, when high temperatures brought it back to "high." Tuesday morning, ODF officials brought it back down to moderate.
