Icy Skating Rink for Portland, Oregon Coast Range Tonight Into Morning

Published 12/24/2017 at 8:21 PM PDT - Updated 12/24/2017 at 8:31 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Portland, Oregon) – It will get worse before it gets better. (Photo above: Beaverton-HIllsdale Highway in Portland has a thick layer of ice beneath the snow, taken about 7 p.m.).

Before careful when you wish for a white Christmas, because this one has turned out to be a dangerous skating rink for Portland and parts of the Oregon Coast Range. The revised forecasts are predicting these conditions to stick around overnight and not clearing until Sunday morning – Christmas Day.

As of 8 p.m. on Sunday night, ODOT officials were urging people in the metro area to stay at home and off the roads. Almost all roads in the Portland area are affected by the current ice storm, with frozen pavement creating traffic hazards everywhere.

Currently, ODOT is reporting a 20-minute delay due to ice on Highway 26 at the Tillamook County / Clatsop County line, near the summits. ODOT is also requiring that you carry chains if you travel over Highway 26 to the Oregon coast.

Meanwhile, the beach towns are markedly warmer and well above freezing.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland said there is a winter weather advisory for the Oregon Coast Range, in effect until 1 a.m.

"Add more snow to the forecast for the PDX metro area this evening, cutting off and transitioning to rain around and south of Sherwood to Oregon City,” the NWS said. “Areas around the Portland could see 1-2" with this evening's precipitation, transitioning to a period of light freezing rain or drizzle central-east metro after about 9 pm as ascent and moisture depth wanes. Precipitation tappers off for Christmas day with a slight moderation in temperatures, rising above freezing all areas except the Gorge."

Temperatures in Portland are not expected to rise above freezing until around 7 a.m., and then rising to perhaps as high as 40 degrees later. This is likely to leave streets in the metro area frozen overnight, continuing the dangerous conditions later than previously thought.

Earlier on Sunday, Portland television station KATU reported highways such as I-84 and I-205 at nearly a standstill at times. Numerous cars were being abandoned, and the station even saw one car turn around on I-84 and head the wrong direction.

See Oregon Coast Traffic Conditions - and Oregon Coast Weather.

Photos of regional snow below from previous years (not current conditions)

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