Brrr! Redmond chills to record -5 as cold snap hits

(Update: Last power restored NW of Redmond0

Central Oregon shivered and bundled up under clear skies that sent temperatures plunging to or below zero early Friday, setting a record for the date in Redmond at -5 degrees and leading to some school bus delays while possibly contributing to power outages that cut the heat for hours to hundreds of residents.

Bend Airport dropped to 1 degree early Friday and Redmond Airport to -5, while Prineville reported a low of 3 and Sisters a bone-chilling -9, according to the National Weather Service. Many NewsChannel 21 viewers reported even lower sub-zero readings — someone in La Pine sent a photo of their weather station drop to -15, Chief Meteorologist Bob Shaw said.

Several cities around the region saw record cold temperatures for Feb. 23, including that Redmond -5, way below the previous mark of 10 degrees set in 2015, and the coldest on the date since records began in 1941.

Daytime temperatures will climb to freezing or just above, but still well below average, Shaw said.

Central Electric Cooperative reported an outage affecting more than 300 members northwest of Redmond that began when a piece of a Pacific Power line broke off and fell onto a CEC line about 4:30 a.m., causing the CEC line to trip off.

Power had been restored to about 120 of the members by 8:15 a.m. and was back for all but 63 members near Northwest Odem Avenue and Northwest Way by mid-morning. The last accounts were gradually returned to service, all by the noon hour, due to the heavy demand brought on by the severe cold, the co-op said.

A smaller outage, caused by a fault in an underground line, cut power to 33 CEC members in the Woodside Ranch subdivision south of Bend. Crews expected to complete repairs in 2-3 hours.

Check for updates at CEC’s Outage Center page.

The Culver School District had buses on snow routes while only two Sisters School District bus routes were running on time due to cold-related issues.

More snow is on the way — and how in the mountains, where 25 to 42 inches of fresh snow could fall by Sunday night, Shaw said.

“This will be a very potent winter storm that presses in and it will unleash some of the heaviest snowfall we have seen in the Cascades so far this year — .just what the resorts are looking for,” Shaw said. “But driving conditions in the mountains will worsen quickly beginning tonight.”

Lower elevations of the High Desert are expecting a mix of snow and rain through the weekend, he added, with a chance of mix showers through next week.

Join Emily Kirk on NewsChannel 21 Fox at 4 (on KTVZ as well) for the weekend Local Alert Weather forecast – or check the seven-day forecast for here, there or anywhere on our weather page: http://www.ktvz.com/weather