I bet there were more than just a few who had cabin fever the past several days as snow and ice pelted the county. Heavy ice accumulations caused many power outages, damage from falling trees and branches as well as car accidents. The air couldn’t warm much above freezing as long as those east winds kept pulling air from the Columbia Basin.
Earlier, it was thought to be as icy as in February 2014 when freezing rain fell. But as the hours and hours dragged on, it appeared to be the worse ice storm since December 1996. Finally, warmer weather made its way through Clark County from the south early Saturday.
Then the cleanup began as tons of branches and split trees littered the ground. The worse of all this was, of course, eastward toward the Gorge. Those power outages and blinking lights had a lot to do with icy branches falling on power lines.
Looking at forecast models Saturday afternoon, I saw the makings of yet another cold snap with those gusty east winds. By Monday, cold air will be reloading in the Columbia Basin and the Bellingham area. The rest of the week looks like highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s, maybe teens in some areas — and of course snow if we get any moisture. By the end of the week, I think we will see some — perhaps overnight Monday and early Tuesday in some parts of Western Washington.
