Snow ends, leaving bitter cold, icy roads behind
Several inches of snow fell over a wide swath of the High Desert on the last Monday of 2014, keeping police and fire medics scrambling from one crash or slide-off to another but allowing Hoodoo Ski Area to set a New Year’s Eve opening as students enjoyed another holiday-week snow fest.
And then, as forecast, skies cleared late Monday — and temperatures dropped way, way down. That also kept many roads icy and slick and contributed to more accidents on Tuesday, one that blocked two lanes of Highway 97 at Cooley Road on Bend’s north end in the late morning.
The airports at Bend, Madras and Prineville were down to 3 degrees at 8 a.m. Tuesday while Redmond fell to 5. Speaking of RDM, several flights got out fine Tuesday morning — a sharp departure from Monday morning’s snow-caused delays and cancellations.
It got even colder late Tuesday — -4 at Redmond Airport at 11 p.m., -2 at Prineville Airport, 3 at Madras Airport and 0 (later -2) at Bend Airport.
NWS forecasters also issued an air stagnation advisory for most of Central and Eastern Oregon and Washington until noon Saturday, saying high pressure will strengthen and create a deep inversion that will keep pollutants trapped near the surface.
A weather spotter near Camp Sherman already reported seven inches of snow by late Monday morning and it was still coming down. Other early observations included a half-foot two miles west of Bend and 3 1/2 inches at Redmond by mid-morning, with a similar amount in Sunriver. Prineville had 1.7 inches by 9:30 a.m. while the Madras area had lesser amounts.
By late afternoon, Deschutes River Woods residents reported 9-10 inches, with a half-foot at some La Pine-area homes.
It’s a week between classes at COCC and OSU-Cascades, but all that snow still prompted early closure of the Bend and other campuses at 2 p.m. Monday.
Hoodoo Ski Area announced it will open Wednesday, just in time for its annual all-ages New Year’s Eve Celebration. The ski resort near Santiam Pass reported 25 to 30 inches, with more expected Monday before skies clear later in the week.
Hoodoo will be open 9am-9pm New Year’s Eve, with night skiing beginning at 3:30pm. At 9:15 p.m., there will be a large, professional-style fireworks show on the mountain. The bar and restaurant will remain open until midnight, with live music in the lodge to help count down to 2015.
Mt. Bachelor, meanwhile, reported a half-foot of new snow in 24 hours Monday for a 50-inch base depth and 80 inches at mid-mountain.
NewsChannel 21 Meteorologist Travis Knudsen said Tuesday would be “deceptive” — looking nice from inside, but bitter cold temperatures, highs to the lower teens at most and winds 15-20 mph and wind-chill values as low as minus-15 degrees. Temperatures will rise a bit and winds lighten Wednesday.
