Snow piled up around Clark County early Saturday but the sun and warmer temperatures melted much of what fell hours earlier, inspiring many to take the winter storm in stride after days of hype and frenzied anticipation.
Families gathered at Franklin Park in northwest Vancouver late Saturday morning said they were enjoying the snow, which didn’t completely cover the grass. Kids on sleds glided down mellow hills and left trails exposing still-green vegetation under a thin layer of frozen precipitation.
Standing beside a decent-sized snowman, Zoe Anderson, 11, said she loved the snow and didn’t mind the cold weather.
“No school for one thing,” Anderson said. “I get to use my ski gear, which I’m excited about because I got some new things for Christmas. I really like sledding. And building snowmen. And snowball fights.”
Her brother, 17-year-old Matthew Schilling, wasn’t as enthused about potentially missing school. The more days of school that are canceled, the longer the school year extends into June, he said.
“It gets in the way of things,” he said.
Most community events and activities, including virtually anything taking place at a school, were canceled Saturday.
Camas got the most snow. According to the National Weather Service’s accumulation totals, 8 inches were dumped on the town late Friday and early Saturday.
Many spots in Vancouver received about half that amount. Cascade Park snow measured about 4 1/2 inches while 3 1/2 inches fell around the Vancouver Mall. The weather service listed a total of 1.8 inches for Battle Ground.
A few snow flurries were forecasted for Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon on Saturday night. “Snow showers coming to a end,” forecasters noted in a weather timeline. Despite fewer snowflakes falling, colder temperatures were predicted to cause icy conditions and impact travel. The same scenario was expected for Sunday.
In a special weather statement issued late Saturday afternoon, the weather service said to prepare for the coldest air so far this winter.
“Low (temperatures) drop to the lower to middle 20s along the coast, and into the middle and upper teens for much of the interior,” the statement said. “Looks can be deceiving, as what may look to be just a wet road could easily be a stretch of ice. As the sun sets, motorists should be prepared for such conditions.”
Sunday night, there is potential for more snow. Temperatures should be cool enough for it to snow across the metro and Clark County. The precipitation may turn to rain after midnight for areas below 1,000 feet and west of the Columbia Gorge, according to the weather service’s timeline.
Despite previous outlooks calling for another major snow event, the weather service said rain is more likely on Monday.
“Rain below 1,500 feet” forecasters said Saturday. A mixture of rain and snow is possible Tuesday. “Still a lot of uncertainty with low elevation snow potential,” they noted.
Stocking up
The earlier threat of a big weekend storm caused people to stock up on groceries and other supplies. By Saturday afternoon, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market on Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard in Vancouver was quiet, and the shelves were well stocked.
Store operator Carlos Rodriguez Vega said customers packed the store Friday. Produce got low but did not come close to running out as the store ordered more than usual in preparation for the wintery weather.
“We have a steady stream of trucks coming in, so the shelves will be stocked,” said Rodriguez Vega. “It’s a bit more quiet today. We’ve had some customers come in and say they didn’t want to deal with the mass crowds.”
The store was calm, as were the roads. Most of the mayhem resulting from the snow consisted of vehicle crashes. Emergency responders seemed unfazed.
Vancouver police Officer Ilia Botvinnik said conditions were much worse early in the morning. He said several spots caused persistent problems in the city. He estimated that police responded to less than a dozen crashes, all of which were minor.
“It’s been surprisingly mild considering the weather,” Botvinnik said. “There were fewer people on the road it looked like, so that probably helped.”
Clark County Fire & Rescue Chief John Nohr said his crews were dispatched to 18 incidents over 24 hours up to 4 p.m. Saturday. The majority of the calls were crashes. On an average day, firefighters in the coverage area — Ridgefield, La Center, Woodland — respond to about 11 calls, Nohr said.
Chief Nohr said all of the crashes were minor.
“There were a couple of cars that ended up on their sides, but they were slow-moving crashes. Only one person was transported to the hospital. Everyone was driving slow because of the conditions,” he said.
Mark Ervin, a battalion chief with the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, said area residents called in and shared how many inches of snow heaped up outside their homes. Seven inches in Prune Hill, said one family. Ervin characterized the roads as “not too bad,” although all the fire department apparatuses were chained up for extra traction.
Firefighters in Camas went to four calls for cars sliding off the roadway, Ervin said. None were serious. No one was taken to the hospital. There was only one minor injury.
“We had more snow on the roads out here, but the (road) crews did a great job of clearing most of them,” Ervin said. “It’s been pretty uneventful.”
