Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022 | 3:03 p.m.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Heavy snow, freezing rain and sleet have disrupted travel across the Pacific Northwest, causing widespread flight cancellations and delays and creating dangerous driving conditions in the region stretching from Vancouver, Canada, down through Washington state and Oregon.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, no flights were departing from the Vancouver's YVR, airport authorities said, citing severe snowfall. Mass cancelations occurred overnight and are expected to continue through the day and week ahead.
Elsewhere in the region, winter weather conditions caused road accidents and snarled traffic.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said travel may be “treacherous” through the Columbia River Gorge amid reports of freezing rain and sleet. One person died in an accident on I-84 near Rooster Rock State Park on Tuesday morning when a semi-truck collided with their SUV, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said.
Police are conducting a crash investigation and noted that the thin layer of ice on the highway that weaves its way through the Gorge may have been a contributing factor.
About 47 miles (75.6 kilometers) of the eastbound I-84 between Hood River and Troutdale were closed earlier in the day due to crashes caused by ice, ODOT said. After all eastbound lanes reopened, the agency said drivers should still use caution.
The agency also warned that long delays caused by heavy snow are “plaguing” U.S. 26 over Mount Hood.
Heavier snow is expected in the northern Cascades in Washington state. A foot of snow could fall on parts of the mountain range in King, Snohomish, Pierce and Lewis Counties, according to the National Weather Service, which has warned of “very difficult travel.”
Multiple spinouts have shut down traffic in both directions at Snoqualmie Pass, a mountain pass on I-90 about 50 miles east of Seattle, the Washington Department of Transportation said.
The agency has deployed plows to major thoroughfares across the region and said its maintenance crews will be working through the night for the next several days.
Snow was falling Tuesday morning in the Seattle area, where the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory including a forecast for wet snow that’s set to last until mid-afternoon.
The conditions have impacted air traffic, with 191 flights canceled and 154 delayed at Seattle-Tacoma International as of 12:30 p.m., according to online tracker FlightAware. The airport said de-icing operations are in effect.
