Portland area, northern Oregon expects more snow

Much of Oregon may have a white Christmas, and for some people it will be like ones they've never known.

The Portland metro region, the Columbia Gorge and the northern Willamette Valley dug out from a historic storm on Tuesday, and awaited more stormy weather on Christmas Eve.

The snowfall isn't expected to be nearly so deep, however, as the foot or more that fell on much of the region over the weekend, taking the starch out of an area unaccustomed to so much.

National Weather Service estimates over the state ranged to above a foot in the eastern mountains and Cascade foothills to barely an inch in low elevations of the southwestern part of the state.

At lower elevations in the Portland metro area, forecasters looked for 1 to 3 inches of snow by the time the morning commute begins, changing to freezing rain and then just to rain.

"We're probably going to see all different kinds of precipitation," said meteorologist Shawn Weagle. He said forecasters worried that the rain would create urban flooding, or ponds on the roadways, because the snow sitting on the ground is covering storm sewer openings.

Much of the snow that hammered northern Oregon last weekend is expected to hang around until next weekend, when a warming trend is expected to begin melting the snow pack.

That will mean a rare white Christmas in much of the region, the Weather Service said.

In downtown Portland, for example, it said its records showed that snow fell on Christmas Day just 13 times since 1884 - only four times accumulating to more than a trace. In only five years was snow on the ground as Christmas morning began - never with more than an inch in depth.

The Weather Service said a white Christmas has been similarly rare in outlying towns such as Hillsboro and McMinnville, as well as in the state's next most populous cities, Salem and Eugene.

Weagle said the service hasn't put a final number on the snowfall for the Portland metro area, but for the moment has it pegged at 12.4 inches downtown. That made it the biggest winter storm in 28 years, he said, but it's likely not to crack the top ten snowstorms recorded in Portland.

Snowfall amounts varied widely, he said, and ranged up to 16 inches in the West Hills, generally the snowiest part of the city.

One of the hardest hit parts of the metro area was on the east side, where the Interstate 84 corridor through the Columbia Gorge was closed three days, damming up the flow of commercial trucks, and the suburb Gresham appealed to the state for National Guard help to support police and fire relief efforts.

On Monday afternoon, fire trucks were unable to get to a mobile home park where a woman reported that her child fell backward in a high chair and was unconscious. Sheriff's deputies were able to get through, though. They got the child, breathing but unconscious, to a Portland hospital, where she was reported in serious but stable condition,

Early Tuesday, the Oregon National Guard sent six Humvees, three configured as ambulances, to Gresham, where the mayor declared an emergency.

A second Oregon city, Vernonia, also began acting under a declaration of emergency, setting up shelters and organizing citizen disaster preparedness volunteers. A storm a year ago caused a devastating flood in the Coast Range town.

Police Chief Michael Kay said Vernonia and outlying areas were experiencing intermittent power outages.

In other areas, the snow caused concern about roofs unable to withstand the weight of the snow.

The state of Oregon closed its Department of Human Services office in McMinnville until it can be inspected. Heavy snow collapsed the metal roof covering a half dozen boats at McCuddy's Big Oak Marina south of Scappoose on Sunday night, and the roof began to sag, endangering more boats.

At midday, the electric utility PGE reported about 54,000 customers without power - and said service had been restored to about 200,000 since Friday. About half of the outages were in Salem. Pacific Power said it had about 5,000 people without power.

Transportation started getting back toward a semblance of normal on Tuesday.

Interstate 84 from Troutdale at the east edge of the Metro area to Hood River was reopened, and hundreds of semitrailers streamed out of truck stops.

Portland International Airport reported most flights were getting in and out.

Amtrak said it is moving passengers from Eugene to Portland by bus, from Portland to Seattle by train, and from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, by bus.

Greyhound officials opened service on Interstate-5 from Portland to Seattle and from Seattle to Spokane but not east of there. Portland to Boise service remained suspended.

The Oregon Department of Transportation reopened the last closed state highway, Oregon 26 through the Coast Range. But it said trees could continue to fall and said drivers must have chains or snow tires for part of the route.

Portland buses were running irregularly, and many low-volume routes were suspended. TriMet restored light-rail service to the airport.

The Department of Transportation lifted a requirement that drivers in the metro area use chains on their tires if they were on state highways.

Authorities warned residents not to drive if they didn't have to in many cases, and the roads were littered with crashes.

Three times, the Oregon State Police said, cruisers at the scene of accidents have themselves been damaged by vehicles sliding around and crashing.

At Portland International Airport, the cleaning crews didn't use vacuum cleaners overnight, giving about 300 people sleeping in the terminals a little peace under the blankets donated by airlines and the Red Cross.

Flight cancellations on Monday totaled 259, more than a third of the flights that would have flown on an average December Monday, said Kama Simonds, spokeswoman for the Port of Portland.

She said most flights were getting out Tuesday morning, though.

Despite the frustrations of thwarted travel plans, she said, people in the terminals seemed to be getting along.

"People really seem to have a certain amount of holiday spirit left in them, and that's wonderful," Simonds said.

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Typh Tucker of the Portland, Ore. bureau added to this report