Bundle up. The weather is not likely to get warmer any time soon.
The National Weather Service in Portland predicts snow will continue to fall and stick in Clark County, as temperatures are expected to remain low. Overnight lows are expected to be around 20 degrees and the afternoon highs will struggle to pass 30 degrees.
National Weather Service meteorologist Rebecca Muessle said the chilly weather came from arctic winds being pushed from interior Canada and the Gulf of Alaska. The service updates its forecast every 12 hours, as smalls trends can occur throughout the day and differ from what was previously predicted.
Areas with higher elevation received up to 6 inches of snow, which was more than neighboring lowlands, which received no more than 3 inches overnight Sunday.
Home and business owners should dust off their snow shovels if they haven’t already because the snowy weather isn’t expected to stop soon. A winter weather advisory is in effect until 4 p.m. Tuesday; most snowfall is expected to decrease Tuesday evening but cold temperatures may last until Saturday.
Take precautions to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting, and gather emergency supplies to store in vehicles.
Subfreezing temperatures along with previous snow melt resulted in icy and hazardous road conditions on Monday. Vancouver Public Works crews are deicing priority streets, but some areas remain untreated. Drivers are urged to commute on well-traveled roadways because they are mostly clear, but avoid sudden stops and turns when possible. Better yet, don’t drive if it’s not necessary.
Clark County Public Works operations teams pretreated county roads with deicer to prevent snow from bonding with pavement. They will continue to monitor roads and spread gravel where necessary, such as on hills and curves.
However, homeowners should take not that crews are not likely to deice or plow residential streets during a winter weather event.
The Vancouver’s road updates can be found on its weather response page at cityofvancouver.us/severeweather and Clark County updates are posted on clark.wa.gov/public-works.
