EDITOR’S NOTE: The National Weather Service issued this Winter Weather Advisory for the populated lowland areas of the North Olympic Peninsula this morning:
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST MONDAY.
1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT OVER THE NORTH INTERIOR LOWLANDS OF WASHINGTON. [THAT INCLUDES PORT ANGELES, PORT TOWNSEND AND SEQUIM.]
OVER THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS, 6 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED.
SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL TAPER OFF FROM THE NORTH ON MONDAY
MORNING.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW-COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES — AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
CLALLAM BAY, SEKIU, NEAH BAY AND ALONG HOOD CANAL: AN INCOMING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL GIVE OCCASIONALLY HEAVY SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY THROUGH TONIGHT. EXPECT ACCUMULATIONS
OF 4 TO 7 INCHES ALONG HOOD CANAL AND 3 TO 6 INCHES FOR THE WEST PART OF THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF EARLY MONDAY MORNING.
In the Olympic Mountains:
AVALANCHE WARNING TODAY
STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL CARRY A FRONT TO THE OLYMPICS THIS MORNING. THIS SHOULD CAUSE INCREASING WINDS.
INCREASING MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND A SLIGHT WARMING TREND
SATURDAY NIGHT AND THIS MORNING. THIS SHOULD CAUSE NEW BUILDING
LAYERS OF UNSTABLE SNOW AND AN AVALANCHE CYCLE TODAY.
BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL NEAR AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED TODAY.
Earlier story:
By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
Moisture-laden air from the southwest colliding with a stubborn cold-air mass from the Yukon on Saturday spun fresh snow across the North Olympic Peninsula and created blizzard conditions on the West End.
More snow is expected today, with the most white stuff falling on the Peninsula’s western side.
Snow was falling across the Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, and Neah Bay Police Chief Sam White reported white-out conditions at 4 p.m.
The National Weather Service reported 70 mph winds at Tatoosh Island off Cape Flattery at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The rare blizzard warning, which will be in effect until 10 a.m. today, covers the western side of Clallam and Jefferson counties, and the National Weather Service predicts winds of up to 60 mph and snow accumulation up to 15 inches near Clallam Bay during that time period.
An avalanche warning is in place for the Olympic Mountains, which are expected to receive up to 2 feet of snow, with winds as high as 75 mph. Hurricane Ridge Road closed at 2 p.m. Saturday due to the impending storm.
In Port Angeles, police blamed icy conditions on Saturday for a broken fire hydrant.
A vehicle traveling south on Francis Street pushed another vehicle traveling on Fifth Street into the fire hydrant at the intersection at 2:50 p.m.
Water gushed out of the hydrant and down the hill to First Street.
The Port Angeles Fire Department shut the water off at the hydrant at 3:15 p.m. No nearby residents were expected to have lost water service completely, said Capt. Jamie Mason.
In Jefferson County, a Jeep Liberty carrying two people rolled on Center Road near milepost 8 due to icy road conditions on Saturday, said Jefferson County Sgt. Ben Stamper. Neither the passenger nor the driver were injured.
Most snow
Today, the most snow is expected to fall in Forks, Clallam Bay-Seiku and Neah Bay, where 5 inches of snow accumulation is expected. Neah Bay is expected to have winds reaching 29 mph.
Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend are expected to receive up to 2 inches of snow, with gusts of up to 41 mph likely in Port Townsend.
Brinnon may receive up to 3 inches of snow today.
Additional snow is likely across the Peninsula through Tuesday night with a mixture of rain and snow beginning Wednesday.
Hunker down in West End
Clallam County Emergency Management activated a reverse 9-1-1 phone call to West End residents at 1 p.m. Saturday containing a recorded blizzard warning from the National Weather Service.
“I advise people to hunker down . . . and stay off the roads,” said Bob Martin, Clallam County emergency manager, on Saturday.
Lisa Murdock, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said people should stay off the highways until they are cleared.
Murdock said U.S. Highway 101, and state highways 104, 19 and 113 are DOT’s priorities on the Peninsula.
Trooper Krista Hedstrom, State Patrol spokeswoman, said the State Patrol will operate with its regular staff, but additional troopers will be called in to assist with traffic collisions if needed.
By Saturday, DOT had set up an emergency operations center for its Olympic region for the purpose of managing resources, such as snow plows.
“But because everything is so widespread, resource sharing is really limited,” Murdock said.
Bill Riley, DOT maintenance superintendant in Port Angeles, said his crew members have been operating 16 snow plows in Clallam and Jefferson counties on 12-hour shifts since snow fell last week.
“The trucks will be out all night and all day until the weather breaks,” he said on Saturday.
Port Angeles, Sequim
The lightest snowfall for Saturday night was expected in Port Angeles and Sequim, where 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulation was expected.
On the eastern side of the Peninsula, the weather service predicted for Saturday night up to 5 inches of snow in Port Townsend and 4 inches in Brinnon, and to the west, up to 9 inches in Forks and 10 inches in Neah Bay.
Dennis Shaw, Clallam County Public Utility District general superintendant, said the West End was most at risk for power outages, because of high wind speeds and an abundance of snow.
As the tree falls
How extensive power outages are “really depends on the way the tree falls,” said David Proebstel, PUD chief engineer.
Proebstel said a tree falling on a transmission line could take out power to up to 4,000 customers.
Shaw said the possibility of freezing rain this week, as temperatures rise into the mid-30s, could exacerbate the situation.
All of the PUD’s 32 linemen will be called in if needed, he said.
Minor power outages continued in Clallam County on Friday and Saturday.
A connector failure that burned down a primary conductor north of Kacee Way west of Port Angeles forced the PUD to shut off power for about 270 customers in the Lower Elwha area Friday morning.
Proebstel said power was restored to most customers by 11:45 a.m.
Separate outages involving a few customers were reported in the Port Angeles and Sequim areas, Proebstel said.
On Saturday, Shaw said power outages on Lost Mountain and Black Diamond roads were caused by a fuse melting because of heavy usage. He said about 125 customers were affected.
Also, Shaw said, an underground cable short-circuited in a neighborhood near Sequim, affecting 50 PUD customers.
In order to keep fuses from melting, Shaw said customers should wait 30 minutes after power is restored to turn their heat on.
No outages in Jefferson
Davina Gruenstein, Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman, said she was unaware of any power outages in Jefferson County.
While PSE has brought in crews from utilities in Montana, California, British Columbia and around the state, additional support isn’t expected to be needed in East Jefferson County, where the PSE operates.
“The area has fared very well,” she said.
Johnny Berg, National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm isn’t expected to hit Port Angeles and Sequim as hard as other parts of the Peninsula because of the rain shadow cast by the Olympic Mountains.
Both areas could receive stronger winds than forecasted if the low-pressure system carrying the moisture gets even lower and brings the high-pressure system to the north farther south.
“The greater the difference [between the two systems], the stronger the winds,” he said.
Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles Chief Robert Wolff said three Coast Guard cutters are on standby in “strategic locations” for search-and-rescue operations in the strait and Puget Sound.
A gale warning will expire after noon in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, and so will a storm warning on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
Winds are expected to reach 40 knots today in the Strait, with waves as high as 9 feet, and 35 knots in the inlet, with waves as high as 6 feet.
Marta Coursey, state ferries spokeswoman, said ferry runs from Port Townsend to Keystone could be canceled if winds exceed 40 knots.
“It is definitely a good piece of advice for people to check the Web site frequently,” she said.
The tallest waves will be on the West End, where they could swell up to 11 feet, with wind speeds of 35 knots.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
