07:10 PM PST on Saturday, January 15, 2005

By ABE ESTIMADA, ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, and JIM PARKER, kgw.com Staff

Winter’s fury descended on the Portland-Vancouver metro area and the Columbia River Gorge for much of Saturday, causing hundreds of accidents, canceling flights in and out of Portland International Airport as well dozens of weekend events, and knocking out electricity to some neighborhoods.

Photo courtesy of Steven J. Chandler

Cars slip and slide into oneanother on this southwest Beaverton road.

Arctic air, funneled in from the east through the Columbia Gorge, met a moisture laden storm from the Pacific Ocean, producing freezing rain over northern Oregon and southwest Washington on Saturday. Snow or freezing fell in Cascade Locks and Hood River in the Gorge.

Just an eighth of an inch of freezing rain turned streets and sidewalks in the Portland-Vancouver area into treacherous sheets of ice.

While temperatures warmed enough to thaw some spots, the respite was only brief. Falling temperatures on Saturday night refroze what had melted during the afternoon.

Government leaders asked people to stay in their homes. And for the most part, people did.

During the height of the freezing rain assault on Saturday morning, roads and highways that would normally be bustling with weekend traffic were nearly bereft of vehicles.

“Stay home, stay warm and stay safe,” said Portland Mayor Tom Potter, who is also a former Portland police chief.

Photo courtesy of Lynne Nelson

A stain-glass butterfly affixed to an ice-coated window in Troutdale.

City and emergency officials also asked the public not to call 9-1-1 to report power outages or for weather updates.

The National Weather Service extended a winter storm warning until 4 a.m. on Sunday for the Portland-Vancouver metro area.

Temperatures are expected to climb above freezing for much of the area by midday on Sunday, thanks to a warm Pacific storm that is supposed to shove the cold air back toward the Gorge, said KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky.

“It’s a 24-hour weather flu bug,” Salesky said of Saturday’s wintry mess.

But the bitter cold is expected to hang around in Gresham, Troutdale, Camas and Washougal until Sunday night or early Monday morning, Salesky said.

KGW

A semi truck loses control on Interstate 205 in Portland.

For Eastern Oregon, a winter storm warning was in effect from noon on Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday as forecasters predicted up to 5 inches of snow followed by sleet and freezing rain overnight across a wide area from Bend to Pendleton.

Traffic problems abound

On Saturday night, the Oregon Department of Transportation again required that chains be used on vehicles on all state highways in the metro area. ODOT had lifted the restriction at noon on Saturday as temperatures warmed, but “freezing rain, black ice and windy conditions necessitate this safety measure,” ODOT said on Saturday night.

More than 200 minor accident reports had been tallied by Oregon State Police by noon on Saturday, but there was no word of any serious injuries.

Photo courtesy of Lori Brackett.

The viewer who sent this photo wrote, "Our neighbor, who lives at the very top of the cul-de-sac, was attempting to turn into his driveway when he lost control and came sliding down our hill right into our garage."

An eight-car crash closed a section of I-205 near the Portland International Airport. Ice stranded dozens of cars, including buses and a city sanding truck, in the area of Barbur Boulevard and Terwilliger Boulevard in southwest Portland.

Abandoned cars were also spotted along I-205 and I-5 in southwest Washington.

"The bottom line is nobody should be driving in freezing rain,” said Mary Volm, spokeswoman for the city of Portland’s transportation department.

Travel across the two main bridges in Portland was limited to a crawl. The Fremont Bridge, carrying Interstate 405, was closed for more than two hours while the Marquam Bridge, carrying Interstate 5, was clogged with semi-trucks and cars unable to navigate the icy pavement, according to ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson.

Traffic barely moved for more than two hours on the southbound I-5 lanes on the lower level of the Marquam Bridge while traffic was being untangled, causing a backup along the freeway into Vancouver.

Sanding truck crews spread out on the main roads along with de-icing equipment, Thompson said.

"Everybody's out right now. We've got 50 trucks on the road," Thompson said.

The city of Portland has 55 trucks to handle snow and ice, and all were on the road with their crews, Volm said.

Getting around

Portland buses, equipped with chains, ran on snow routes. MAX trains were running every 10 minutes in order to keep snow and ice from building up on the overhead power wires and tracks, said Tri-Met spokeswoman Mary Fetsch.

Flights at Portland International Airport were delayed or canceled, said Steve Johnson, Port of Portland aviation spokesman.

"It's really important for travelers to check before they come to the airport," Johnson said.

Alaska and Horizon airlines canceled all of their departing flights on Saturday.

Johnson did not have a complete list of airlines with problems, but he said the storm had affected nearly all operations at the airport. De-icing crews were keeping flights running while the runways and taxiways appeared to be in good shape, Johnson said.

Power outages and event cancellations

During the storm’s worst moments, about 5,000 people were without power, according to Portland General Electric. Many of the people who lost electricity live in Corbett in the Gorge and in southeast Portland near Mall 205. By Saturday night, the number of people without power was whittled down less than 1,000.

The Legacy Health System was operating under a storm management plan for nonessential staff and workers while several private universities canceled classes. A number of high schools canceled events, including basketball games and wrestling matches.

The Oregon Zoo made a rare weather-related closure, and the Oregon Democratic Party postponed its required organizational meeting until Sunday after the storm forced Portland State University to close the meeting hall and other buildings on campus.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)