Oregon winter storm live updates: Mid-Valley Thursday school delays, power outages

The Willamette Valley continues to emerge from the snow and ice story this morning.

While the winter storm warning for freezing rain and ice lifted early Wednesday and temperatures warmed to above freezing, several school districts are still operating on delayed schedules or remain closed.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Liu said warm southerly winds were moving from south to north through the valley, melting the ice build up.

“Temperatures have already warmed up considerably within the last few hours and will get pretty warm today, into the 40s,” he said. “I'd say it really starts melting out in a span of hours rather than days.”

Even with the melt beginning, many roads across northwest Oregon remain very slick and numerous trees are down on roadways.

There also are numerous road and highways closures. Officials advise against travel. Check Tripcheck before heading out.

Salem-area school closures for Thursday, Jan. 18

• Central School District 13J: Closed.

• Community Action Head Start: Woodburn Duration, Independence morning preschool and EHS, and Dallas morning preschool and EHS are all canceled Thursday.

• Dallas School District: Closed.

• Molalla River School District: Closed.

• Oregon State University: Closed.

• Salem Academy: Two hours late.

• Salem Child Development Center: All Salem-Keizer SCDC programs are closed, including Fairgrounds Road, Liberty Gardens and Salem-Keizer school-age programs.

• Salem-Keizer Public Schools: Closed.

• Sheridan School District: Closed.

• Sweet Home School District: Closed.

• Willamette ESD: Salem sites closed, including WCA.

• Willamette Valley Christian (Brooks): Closed.

• Woodburn School District: Closed.

Salem-area school and pre-school delays for Thursday, Jan. 18

• Amity School District: Two hours late.

• Cascade School District: Two hours late. Morning buses on snow routes.

• Chemeketa Community College: All Campuses and Outreach Centers have delayed opening until 10:30 a.m. All in-person and remote classes, activities, work and events prior to that time are canceled.

• Dayton School District: Two hours late.

• Gervais School District : Two hours late. Food share closed.

• Greater Albany School District: Two hours late.

• Lebanon Community Schools: Morning buses on snow routes.

• Linn-Benton Community College: All locations will open at 10 a.m. All in-person classes and events that begin before 10 a.m. are canceled. Remote classes will continue as scheduled.

• Mt. Angel School District: Two hours late.

• North Marion School District: Two hours late. Middle and high school classes start at 10 a.m. Primary and intermediate classes start at 10:40 a.m. There is no morning preschool classes. Before school child care services may be delayed.

• OCDC Headstart in Marion County: Administration, Settlemier and Silverton sites two hours late. No morning transportation for any site.

• Perrydale School District: Morning buses on snow routes.

• Scio School District: Two hours late. Buses on snow routes.

• Silver Falls School District: Two hours late.

• St. Paul School District: Two hours late.

• Willamette ESD: Woodburn, Dallas, and Monmouth sites two hours late. Morning specialized preschool canceled. Preschool promise on two hours late.

Roads closed, travel impacted by numerous downed trees

Alerts about downed trees have come in from numerous road across northwest Oregon, according to Tripcheck.com.

Officials have strongly warned against travel.

• The intersection of Madras Street SE and Commercial Street SE closed due to icy conditions and both lanes of Madras Street SE are closed from the intersection to Blue River Drive SE.

• Interstate 84 reopened Wednesday night between Troutdale and Hood River, with restrictions: Chains are required between milepost 37 to 63. Traction tires allowed in place of chains on vehicles under 10,000 gross vehicle weight and not towing. Vehicles towing must use chains.

About 43,500 without power across Willamette Valley on Wednesday afternoon

At least 43,500 customers were without power Wednesday afternoon following the latest ice storm that hit northwest Oregon Tuesday night.

The largest number of those without power were in the Eugene area, where about 21,383 had outages, according to the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

Pacific Power reported Wednesday afternoon that about 13,372 of its customers were without power, also mostly in the Eugene area.

Portland General Electric said Wednesday afternoon that about 8,773 of its customers were without power across its service area, mostly in the Portland metro area.

PGE reported one customer in Marion County without electricity Wednesday afternoon.

Salem Electric had no outages.

How to prepare for a power outage Preparation and safety tips for when the power goes out

Power knocked out in Santiam Canyon cities

Hundreds of people in Santiam Canyon cities like Detroit, Idanha, Lyons and Mehama, as well as hundreds in Falls City, have lost power and may not get it back until Sunday, according to Consumers Power Inc., which provides power to the area.

Detroit lost power at 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday evening, Mayor Jim Trett said.

Consumers Power says that 589 homes in Detroit and Idanha have lost power as of noon on Wednesday.

“They said they have a guy up here surveying damage today,” Trett said. “They’re hoping to have a crew up here tomorrow.”

Detroit didn’t get hit with the ice storm that much of the Willamette Valley did, but still lost power.

CPI said 197 homes in Falls City also are without power, as are thousands of homes in Lebanon, Sweet Home and Philomath.

Trett said Detroit opened its Community Center as a warming shelter for people Tuesday night, but only he showed up. Trett said people can call city hall at 503-854-3496 to find out if it is open for people to come in.

Salem, warming shelters respond to snow, cold, ice

Salem Street Maintenance crews have been working since Friday with two crews operating 12 hours per day. Over a thousand tons of sanding rock and 2,000 gallons of liquid deicer have been applied, with more on standby, city officials said Tuesday.

The city warned accumulated ice and wind could lead to downed trees and powerlines.

Those with roadway, water or sewer concerns can call the Public Works Dispatch Center at 503-588-6311.

The Warming Shelter Networkremains activated and available to anyone who needs a warm place to rest during the day or night.

Seed of Faith Ministries warming shelter at 1248 Winter St. NE opened with 140 spaces. Ministry leadership said the warming center will be operating 24 hours a day until Thursday. Light meals are provided.

Robert Marshall, program manager with the ARCHES Project, said the warming shelter had 83 guests Friday night and 112 guests on Saturday night.

To date, no one has been turned away at any of the available shelters during the storm. Learn more by calling the Shelter Activation Hotline at 971-304-9211, following theARCHES Project on Facebook, or contacting the Seeds of Faith Ministry’s Community Recovery and Wellness Living program at 503-881-3939.

Supplies like sleeping bags, winter gloves, socks and hand warmers remain in high demand.

Donations can be dropped off anytime at the Navigation Center located at 1185 22nd Street SE in Salem.

State parks closed due to snow and ice

Nine Oregon state parks have closed or partially closed due to ice, snow and downed trees along the north coast and in the Willamette Valley.

Visitors are encouraged to check park pages on the state parks website before visiting as well as local forecasts and TripCheck for road conditions.

The current closures include:

• Saddle Mountain State Natural Area

• Elijah Bristow State Park

• Jasper State Recreation Site

• Bald Peak State Scenic Viewpoint

• Day-use area at Nehalem Bay State Park

• Vista House in the Columbia River Gorge

• Campground at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park (for incoming reservations that have not checked in) and the Buxton Trailhead.

Several restrooms have also closed, mostly along the Columbia Gorge.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon winter storm updates: Salem school delays, power outages