The worst of the week’s wintry weather passed over the North Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday as residents hunkered down to ride out the icy blast.
With schools, local governments and many businesses closed, most residents heeded warnings to stay off the treacherous roads.
“The weather is what it is, but we’ve had no issues,” said Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin.
No serious auto injuries
Peninsula Communications and the State Patrol reported that there were no vehicle mishaps that caused serious injuries this week, though since Sunday, some 90 fender-benders, cars in ditches or other minor snarls were reported.
The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center reported 69 inches of snow at Hurricane Ridge as of Wednesday afternoon.
Hurricane Ridge Road was closed because of whiteout conditions and a high avalanche danger.
Brent Bower, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said the Port Angeles-Sequim area received 4 to 6 inches of new snow Wednesday morning.
Weather spotters in Port Townsend reported 3 to 5 inches, with the Hood Canal and Forks areas getting 2 to 4 inches of overnight accumulation, Bower said.
That pales in comparison to Lewis County, where 16 inches of new snow was reported.
Total accumulations on the Peninsula varied widely from place to place with melting, evaporation and wind drifts.
Forks had about a foot of snow on the ground Wednesday, while Port Angeles and Sequim had about half that amount.
Port Townsend, Brinnon, Port Ludlow, Chimacum and Port Hadlock had between 3 to 6 inches of total accumulation.
More lowland snow
Bower said a weaker system will move onshore today with a chance of more lowland snow.
Rain is expected to develop on the North Olympic Peninsula on Friday as high temperatures climb into the mid-40s.
Wednesday’s storm was created by a combination of moisture from the south and cold air from the north.
Bower said the low-pressure system that carried the moisture came onshore near the mouth of the Columbia River.
“As it arrived here, it started tracking a little bit further south,” Bower said.
“The moisture didn’t get as far north as we thought previously.”
Cold air from the Canadian interior funneled through the Fraser River valley and pushed up against the Olympic Mountains to the southwest, Bower said.
The freezing wind blew snow into piles and churned up waves in Port Angeles Harbor. A gale warning was in effect for the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
While emergency managers were on standby, Clallam County did not open its emergency operations center.
“We open that up if we start having massive power outages,” Peregrin said.
“Right now, it’s just bad roads.”
A broken fire hydrant caused a water outage in the Carlsborg area, Clallam County Public Utility District spokesman Mike Howe said.
About 150 customers had the outage, and another 80 had low flows.
Water service was restored at 3 p.m.
Brief power outages were confined to the West End of Clallam County on Wednesday morning.
By noon, power had been restored to 416 customers in the LaPush area, 278 customers south of Forks and 35 in Neah Bay, Howe said.
No injury wrecks
For all the snow and ice, no injury vehicle wrecks were reported in Clallam County, according to Peninsula Communications, or in Jefferson County, according to officials there.
There were 13 minor vehicle mishaps — mostly cars in ditches — between 10 a.m. Tuesday and noon Wednesday in Clallam County.
That brings the total of minor vehicles wrecks to 90 since the snow first started falling Sunday afternoon, PenCom Communications Supervisor Karl Hatton said Wednesday morning.
Most occurred on rural roads between Port Angeles and Sequim, Hatton said. Two were within the Sequim city limit.
Port Townsend Police Sgt. Ed Green said the sparse traffic meant there were few problems, aside from one car being stuck on the curve between Safeway and QFC, which is usually a trouble spot in bad weather.
Two semi-trucks caused a similar blockage Tuesday.
In addition, no injury accidents have been reported on U.S. Highway 101 in Clallam and Jefferson counties or along the Hood Canal since Sunday, State Patrol spokesman Russ Winger said.
But a semi-truck and trailer jackknifed Tuesday night on state Highway 104 three miles south of Discovery Bay in Jefferson County, Winger said.
The driver “just lost it” on the icy road, he said.
The semi ended up in the ditch and blocked one lane of the road from about 7:15 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and both lanes from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. while three large tow trucks extricated it from the ditch.
Drivers were warned by state Department of Transportation signage to seek alternate routes, Winger said.
There were also several non-injury collisions in the Brinnon area, Winger added.
“Today, cars are getting around fairly well,” he said late Wednesday morning.
Shelter blankets
The storm meant the Port Angeles Street Outreach Center, operated by Serenity House of Clallam County, didn’t have enough blankets to go around.
Kathy Wahto, Serenity House executive director, said the shelter at 516 E. First St. had to grab all the blankets from the nonprofit organization’s thrift store to meet demand.
About 20 to 25 people were staying at the shelter as of 3 p.m., which was more than expected. Up to 30 people can stay there.
Serenity House was also taking in people at its single-adult shelter, 2321 W. 18th St.
Wahto said it has 50 beds and is under capacity.
Blanket donations can be made by phoning 360-452-5700.
Icy in Forks
The snow stopped early in Forks, but a cold wind from the east has been piling up snowdrifts, and ice under snow is making roads treacherous, said Forks City Works Manager Dave Zellar.
When the snow stopped early Wednesday, there was about 13 inches of snow at Forks City Hall, Zellar said.
“This was a good one, but I’ve seen worse,” he said.
Snow depth varied through the area, and most roads were clear of snow, but the biggest problem is the ice, he said.
A layer of ice formed under the snow that the snowplows have not been able to remove.
Forks police have pulled cars from ditches, and even police cars have slid sideways because of road conditions, said Forks Police Sgt. Ed Klahn.
The Forks Community Center will be made available for emergency shelter if any outages of electrical power occur, but so far, there has been no need for it, Klahn said.
The Coast Guard reported no incidents in the Port Angeles response area as of Wednesday.
“It’s been quiet. We haven’t had any calls,” said Lt. Randy Slusher, duty officer of Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles, on Wednesday.
“We’re plowing the runways and still have full search-and-rescue response capabilities,” he said.
“If we had to, we could definitely fly,” Slusher said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporters Arwyn Rice and Charlie Bermant contributed to this report.
