Significant ice storm forecast for Salem, Eugene, Corvallis: What you need to know
A significant freezing rain event could cripple roads and knock out power between Salem and Eugene from late Friday night and into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Upwards of a half-inch of ice could form, with the worst conditions currently projected for between Albany-Corvallis and Eugene.
While some light freezing rain could fall by 5 p.m. Friday, the greatest concerns centers on between 6 to 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“Saturday will not be a good time to be on the road,” National Weather Service meteorologist John Liu said. “We are projecting this as a more severe event.”
The line between Willamette Valley snow and freezing rain is right at Salem, Liu said. Given that, Salem could see a little more snow and a little less ice than areas to the south, but conditions are expected to be dangerous either way.
Temperatures stay frigid through the weekend and start to warm by Tuesday. Here's how to prepare.
Power companies prepare for outages
The two major power companies, PGE and Pacific Power, said they’re preparing for outages. It’s unclear whether this system will bring power outages on the scale of the 2021 ice storm, when hundreds of thousands lost power for an extended period, but that level of impact is possible primarily on the south end of the Willamette Valley.
Will there be ice in the foothills?
Even in the Cascade Foothills outside of Salem and Eugene, freezing rain is considered more likely than snow even up to 1,000 feet in places such as Mill City, McKenzie Bridge and Lebanon. Roads into the Coast Range and toward the coast could be extremely slick.
How long will ice stick around?
The ice could last throughout the weekend, especially on roads not treated for ice, because temperatures are forecast to stay below freezing into Monday.
“On untreated roads, the ice could really stick around,” Liu said. “The high temperatures are only above freezing for maybe an hour on Sunday and Monday. That’s not a lot of time for the ice to melt. It will probably break up somewhat, but for any driving this weekend, you’ll want to be extremely careful especially off main roads.”
Snow forecast for Portland and north of Salem
Snow is forecast north of Salem, with about 1-3 inches of snow, and maybe more, forecast for the Portland metro area.
Columbia River Gorge could see 'blizzard-like' conditions
Extremely snowy, windy and difficult conditions are forecast for the Columbia River Gorge and Interstate 84.
Cascade Range passes snowstorm continues
Heavy snow, high winds and frigid temperatures continue at Cascade Range passes from Friday into Saturday.
The skies finally clear by Sunday and Monday.
Tips for planning for the ice storm from utilities
Utilities in the Willamette Valley suggested the following:
Prepare an outage kit that includes:
Flashlight or headlamps
Battery-powered or hand crank radio and alarm clock or watch
Car charger for your cell phone, laptops and/or tablets
72-hour supply of ready-to-eat food and water
Extra blankets
Bottled water for people and animals (for those who rely on electricity to pump water)
For people with an electric garage door opener, learn how to operate it manually.
Protect home electronics by investing in surge protection equipment.
Be familiar with safe cooking, heating, and lighting practices. Information on safe generator use and other tips are available on portlandgeneral.com/safety
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon winter weather: Ice storm forecast in Salem, Eugene, Corvallis
