Highway 20 at Santiam Pass reopens after avalanche

(Update:Santiam Pass reopens; CEC battles outages; most trash pickup canceled for week; Hwy. 58 progress but closed until at least Thursday)

An avalanche Wednesday closed U.S. Highway 20 just west of Santiam Pass until the early evening.

However, while the route to state Highway 22 and Salem had reopened, Highway 20 was still closed to the west, on the route toward Sweet Home.

The Oregon Department of Transportation said travelers should avoid the area, take another route or expect a long delay.

It’s the latest of several slides, downed trees and other weather-related impacts to affect travel across Oregon’s mountain passes.

Get the latest updates on the situation at our TripCheck page.

The battle with Central Oregon’s late-winter snowy onslaught took a turn for the better for a time Tuesday, as plows, shovels, snowblowers and the like made good progress clearing roads — and then a new wave of snow hit, followed by a third straight round of school and event cancellations for Wednesday.

In a note to parents, Redmond school officials said, “You may have been anticipating this call today as you try to dig your way out of your driveway, and now watch another wave of snow begin to fall.

“Our crews have made significant progress clearing pathways, driveways and parking lots, but with temperatures remaining low, significant snowfall already on the ground and an additional snowstorm coming overnight, remaining closed through Wednesday is the best call to ensure student safety.

“We do not normally make these decisions the night before, as sometimes forecasts are incorrect, but with the amount of snow already on the ground, any additional amount is going to cause difficulties for everyone,” the announcement concluded.

Bend-La Pine echoed that theme in canceling Wednesday classes and evening activities: “Normally weather-related school closures are determined and announced early in the morning, but due to continued hazardous conditions, the decision to close schools tomorrow has been made in advance.”

As snow began falling again in Bend Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service extended its winter storm warning by 24 hours, to 4 a.m. Thursday, warning of possibly 5-10 inches more across the region by that time (though its Bend forecast adds up to a foot or more).

“Travel could be very difficult,” the update said. “The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.”

For the higher elevations — the east slopes of the Cascades, such as La Pine, Sunriver and Sisters — the winter storm warning also was extended until early Thursday, and in that zone, forecasters predict another 7-13 inches.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” forecasters said, repeating a by-now familiar warning.

After three days of daily calls, and with more snow falling, the area’s trash haulers — Bend Garbage & Recycling, Cascade Disposal and High Country Disposal — said Wednesday they are going to suspend residential collection service for the rest of the week (Thursday and Friday).

“The roads are just not good and it’s not safe,” a representative said, asking customers to put out extras on their day next week.

Bend-area weather spotters reported another 7 to 9 inches of snow from the latest round of snow, in the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning. The Redmond area got another 8 1/2 inches, while La Pine had 8 inches, Madras saw another half-foot and Prineville about 5 inches. Prineville’s official 4 1/2-inch figure broke the Feb. 27 record of 3 inches, set back in 1930 (the city’s weather record books go back to 1897).

Check all our NWS alerts here.

As with the intense winter of 2016-17, weather impacts are starting to be felt. A tree fell onto and its limbs broke through the roof of a southwest Bend home as the residents slept early Tuesday, but caused no injuries.

Late Tuesday night, more than 1,000 Central Electric Cooperative members in the Sisters area lost power when the Sisters substation lost one of its main lines. The outage came after two days of utility and co-op crews battling the elements and restoring power knocked out by downed trees and lines. Check updates here.

By Wednesday morning, the major outage was resoled, but CEC still reported more than a dozen smaller outages affecting 350 members due to downed trees and limbs falling on power lines.

Cross-state travel woes continued late Tuesday as an avalanche blocked the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 20 about 2 miles west of Santiam Pass. To the west, the highway remained closed west of Cascadia State Park

State Highway 58 also remained closed due to numerous downed trees near Oakridge, where ODOT and contractors established a “lifeline” emergency route Tuesday to get help to the community, without power since Sunday’s storm hit.

ODOT said Wednesday afternoon that despite progress clearing state Highway 58 of large trees, debris and snow, the Lane County route will remain closed to regular traffic between Lowell and Oakridge at least through the night.

Check our ODOT TripCheck page for the latest.

T he Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization Technical Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday is being postponed. The Crook County Foundation has postponed Prineville Mayor Steve Uffelman’s ‘What’s Brewing?’ presentation a month, to March 27.

Also, the Sisters City Council workshop, regular meeting and Urban Renewal Agency meeting scheduled Wednesday were canceled. The council will meet again on March 13.

High Lakes Health Care announced on its Facebook page that they also will be closed Wednesday due to the new round of snow.

Cascade Disposal said it will be suspending routes again on Wednesday, due to the weather.

“The safety of our customers, employees and those traveling in our service area is important and we want to keep everyone safe,” the company said.

Extra trash will be collected the following Wednesday. Recycling will be collected the following scheduled recycle day.

Prineville Disposal said it is running regular routes, however each stop is case by case due to the extreme weather conditions. It suggested that customers on steep roads or driveways bring their carts to the bottom, or free them from snow berms.

Cascade Disposal routes also have been suspended for the remainder of the week due to safety concerns for employees and customers driving in our service area. Routes will resumenext week, picking up the overflow, and commingle recycle will resume on the normal schedule.

Meals on Wheels also won’t be delivered Wednesday in Bend or La Pine, and Thursday’s senior lunch at the Bend Community Center has been canceled. The Council on Aging of Central Oregon offices also will be closed Wednesday, as will many local senior centers.

Meals on Wheels site coordinators have been contacting clients since Monday to check on well-being and safety and to let them know about the interruption to meal delivery. There have been no reported safety issues so far. Council on Aging volunteers are mobilized to help deliver meals as soon as it is safe to do so.

Meals on Wheels clients are advised to use the shelf-stable emergency meals provided in late 2018. These meals are contained in a brown box and were delivered to all Meals on Wheels clients during the winter season in case of inclement weather. The shelf-stable emergency food boxes contain five meals. For updates, follow the Council on Aging’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CouncilOnAgingOfCentralOregon or check local media.

The Tower Theatre in downtown Bend will be closed Wednesday, and a Nature Night event will be rescheduled.

If there’s some good news on the horizon, it’s an expected cold but dry end to the week, a slight chance of snow over the weekend and more cold but fairly dry weather early next week.