Sunday’s snow and freezing rain are lingering throughout Southwest Washington today, providing a slow start to the first business day of 2016. Meanwhile, more freezing rain is possible tonight.
The temperature at Vancouver’s Pearson Field finally reached the thawing point after 9 a.m., but it won’t get more than a few degrees warmer all day. The National Weather Service in Portland has issued a hazardous weather outlook for tonight. It warns that temperatures should drop to just below freezing overnight, and that a slight skim of freezing rain may add to whatever moisture is left over from today.
Meanwhile the area was recovering from Sunday’s storm that hung over into Monday like a New Year’s party guest who’d overstayed his welcome.
Several banks and other businesses closed or opened late. Public schools are closed today, including Vancouver, which had deferred its final decision until this morning. Clark College and WSU Vancouver opened at noon.
Garbage and recycling collection was canceled for the day, according to the city of Vancouver. Customers may put out double the normal amount for collection next Monday.
The temperature rose by 1 degree overnight at Pearson Field in Vancouver and by 9 a.m. had hovered at or just below freezing for seven hours. The high should be about 35 degrees today, according to the National Weather Service.
Roads appeared to be a mixed bag. Lighter-than-normal traffic mostly moved well on freeways and major highways, but many residential streets and rural roads were icy into the afternoon.
Jeff Mize, a spokesman for Clark County Public Works, reported varying road conditions along the county’s 2,700 lane miles of roads.
“Some streets, especially in the urban areas, are well traveled and pretty easy-going, then you get on the side streets and it’s a completely different story – it’s treacherous,” Mize said in a news release. “Areas that have particularly difficult driving conditions include portions of east Clark County outside Camas and Washougal and the Mount Vista area, near Washington State University Vancouver.”
Vancouver concentrated its efforts on major arterials, with crews out all night and this morning, according to a news release. The city has about 1,800 miles of roads.
C-Tran said bus 19 is on a snow route, and Route 92 from 32nd to Addy Loop is suspended until further notice.
No major power outages were reported.
