PORTLAND, Ore. – Fresh off the heels of a winter snow and ice storm that left two dead and over 200,000 without power across northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington over the weekend comes another ice storm that threatens a volatile second punch before starting a cross-country journey with widespread winter weather impacts.
Cold air remains entrenched in the Northwest from the deadly arctic blast covering much of the nation, just as another storm carrying milder air off the Pacific moves ashore into the Northwest later Tuesday.
The warmer air nosing in between the arctic air hugging the ground and cold air aloft will create widespread freezing rain, threatening at least a disruptive, if not crippling, ice event.
Ice Storm Warnings cover much of northwestern Oregon, including the Portland–Vancouver metro area and the Willamette Valley, from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning.
Freezing rain is expected to move into the area Tuesday afternoon or evening and remain an issue into Wednesday morning. The storm will recoat everything in a thick glaze of ice and threaten dangerous, slick roads and numerous power outages as trees and power lines succumb to the weight of building ice.
Some 50,000 people still remain without power in Oregon from the weekend storm, according to PowerOutage.US. Portland’s light rail MAX service remains suspended Tuesday due to lingering damage from falling trees and snow and ice, and all parks and recreation facilities were closed Tuesday due to the impending ice storm.
Total ice accretions are forecast to reach from 0.25-0.50 inches around the Portland-Vancouver metro area, which is considered a “disruptive” storm with numerous power outages likely and some tree damage.
But some of the suburbs and surrounding hills may see accretions over a half-inch, which would be a “crippling” storm with widespread power outages and tree falls possible.
In addition, gusty easterly winds roaring out of the Columbia Gorge will blow around 30-40 mph around the city, especially the eastern suburbs closer to the mouth of the Gorge, adding to potential tree falls and travel woes.
The storm will spread a wintry mix north into the Seattle and western Washington corridor, bringing a round of snow and freezing rain to the region late Tuesday into Tuesday night.
HOW MUCH ICE IS NEEDED TO KNOCK OUT POWER, DAMAGE TREES?
However, with warmer air expected to mix out the colder air quicker, any snow accumulations will be brief and light, and any freezing rain glaze is forecast to remain under a quarter-inch thick before changing to rain overnight.
The exception is an area near the Canadian border and along the northern Olympic Peninsula, where lingering chilly winds could bring up to 5 inches of snow and a brief glaze of ice through Wednesday.
On the other hand, there are no worries about cold air in the mountains as the storm brings another dose of heavy snow to the Cascades.
Winter Storm Warnings are in effect from Tuesday afternoon into Thursday morning for storm total snowfall between 1 and 3 feet.
Wintry conditions will improve Wednesday in the Northwest, but the storm is just getting started on its national impact.
The storm will slide farther east across the Plains later in the week and eventually into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Right now, the FOX Forecast Center is not anticipating a blockbuster snowstorm, but disruptive snow amounts ranging from 1-5 inches are possible through the end of the week.
The storm could bring snow to 30 states from the Northwest to the Northeast. The FOX Forecast center will monitor the storm’s evolution carefully as time goes by to see whether the system taps into more moisture to squeeze out even more snow for big cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York.
For the Northwest, lowland snow and ice will be but a memory by the end of the week as the weather pattern takes a big shift from cold and wintry to wet and mild as a series of atmospheric rivers take aim at the West Coast.
Forecasts show temperatures near to perhaps even above average by the end of the week and into the weekend, with rain likely each day through the middle of next week.