A slow defrost on the North Olympic Peninsula has cleared much of the ice off the low-lying roads, but slippery conditions persist in the morning hours and all day in the upper elevations.
The National Weather Service posted a wind advisory on Monday for the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca. Winds of more than 20 mph are forecast today.
“We’ve got wind, we’ve got snow, we’ve got heavy rain and a rock in the middle of [Highway] 112,” said Bill Riley, maintenance and operations supervisor at the state Department of Transportation’s Port Angeles office.
The latter reference: the large boulder that has hindered state Highway 112 east of Neah Bay since Dec. 22.
“We’re having a lot of snow come and go on the west side.”
Treacherous driving conditions were reported on the West End as squalls moved through the region.
Indian Valley, Forks and Clallam Bay received fresh snow on Monday, Riley said.
“All in all, it’s been a busy day,” Riley said.
A one-car wreck occurred on state Highway 19 about 5 miles south of Chimacum at about 6 p.m. Monday.
The cause of the wreck was under investigation, but the road was reported to have been icy in places, said Trooper Krista Hedstrom, State Patrol spokeswoman.
Driving conditions
The severity of the driving conditions varied from place to place and hour to hour.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian King, who patrolled the Forks area on Monday, said the roads were mostly clear shortly before 4 p.m.
“However, in the shaded areas there still tends to be some compact snow and ice,” King said.
“It’s been raining for most of the day out here. The roads are more wet than they are icy at this point.”
A fallen tree blocked U.S. Highway 101 just east of Gardiner near Discovery Bay Monday morning.
Department of Transportation crews removed the tree within minutes, and the road reopened at 9:50 a.m.
The slide area on Highway 112 near Neah Bay remains open to alternating traffic. The eastbound lane was cleared a day after the slide.
Potholes are forming on U.S. Highway 101 in the Sequim area as the frozen surface thaws out.
“With guys working day and night, we don’t have full crews anywhere,” Riley said.
“They’re still very busy.”
A mix of snow and rain was forecast today for Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Sequim with overnight lows of 33 to 35 degrees and highs around 40.
“It looks like maybe later in the week we’ll have a stronger possibility of rain and high winds that may take us into a completely different mode of response,” said Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer.
Crews may be trading their snow plows for chain saws, Tyler said.
Power outage
Gusting winds blew branches into lines throughout Clallam County on Monday, but the biggest power outage was not weather-related.
David Proebstel, Clallam County Public Utility District chief engineer, said a wayward sea gull in power lines caused a 200-customer blackout in Neah Bay between 3 p.m. and 4:20 p.m.
Clallam County officials reported improved driving conditions as the day wore on.
“Except for rain and some snow flurries, we don’t have anything active that’s piling up snow,” Tyler said.
“Most of our roads right now are in pretty good condition.”
Conditions were favorable enough for Clallam County crews to pull some equipment off the roads for repairs.
“I think everybody’s breathing a sigh of relief at the moment,” Tyler said.
Crews have been working nonstop for 18 days clearing the roads where it serves the greatest good to the greatest amount of people, Tyler said.
“The guys are absolutely beat,” Tyler said.
“A lot of those days we’re working 10 to 14 hours.”
Clallam County has 33 road maintenance workers in three districts.
In the Port Angeles district alone, crews have plowed some 4,000 lane miles and spread 2,100 cubic yards of sand. Tyler said.
“We try not to leave any road untouched,” Tyler said.
Clallam County has about 1,000 lane miles of road.
“It would be wonderful if we had the resources to keep everything sanded and plowed 24 hours a day, but we don’t,” Tyler said.
Likewise, state transportation crews worked 24 hours per day in the height of the storm.
They since have scaled back to 16-hour days.
“We’ll just keep at it,” Riley said.
Riley, who lives off Highway 112, said the roads were slick on Monday morning, but the toughest part of his commute was getting out of the driveway.
Teresa Pierce, city of Port Angeles spokeswoman, said the roads were still slushy above Park Avenue and Lauridsen Boulevard, with good driving conditions in lower areas.
“The roads are doing pretty well, especially downtown and around City Hall,” Pierce said.
The city is asking motorists to park in their driveways, if possible, to allow snowplows to clear residential streets without going around parked cars.
Jefferson County
Jack Reid, Jefferson County roads operation manager, said crews are catching up with the residential areas that were skipped during the height of the winter storm.
“The roads are looking real good,” Reid said.
“All the main roads are open and clear.”
Jefferson County crews were focused on residential areas near Brinnon and Port Ludlow, he said.
John Dowd, a Jefferson County road plow operator, said several roads near Brinnon were still iced over. The area was hit hard because of its terrain, Reid said.
“The storms pack up against the mountains, then it condenses and dumps worse,” said Dowd, who’s been plowing roads every day for the past three weeks.
“We tend to get more.”
Dosewallips Road was icy in places, Dowd said, and the upper stretches of the road were completely iced over.
“Duckabush [Road] is a solid sheet of ice for the last two miles of the county-maintained part,” Dowd said.
Since the main arterials are the first priority for road crews in Jefferson County and elsewhere, side spurs — especially those with steep driveways — are far more slippery than the county roads. Tires pack down the snow and turn it into a sheet of ice before crews can plow it, Dowd said.
Drivers are chaining up to get out of the Lazy C development off Dosewallips Road because it’s still iced in, Dowd said.
Olympic National Park
Heavy snow, strong winds and white-out conditions forced Olympic National Park officials to keep Hurricane Ridge Road closed above Heart O’ The Hills entrance on Monday.
Snow, ice and fallen trees also closed the park’s access roads to Olympic Hot Springs, Whisky Bend, North Fork Quinault, Sol Duc, Upper Queets and South Shore Quinault Road.
Three inches of new snow was reported at Hurricane Ridge, with 44 inches total at the measuring stake.
Weather permitting, Hurricane Ridge Road will be open today and remain open daily until Sunday.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
