Whatcom County’s warming up, but light snow or flurries still possible Thursday
Schools and colleges remained closed Thursday after a storm dumped 4 to 7 inches of snow early Wednesday across the Whatcom County lowlands.
A least one death could be connected to this week’s frigid temperatures, a woman who died in a trailer fire Wednesday along the Mount Baker Highway. A homeless man died of apparent exposure in Bellingham last week.
Temperatures in Bellingham warmed above freezing late Wednesday afternoon for the first time since Sunday night when snowstorms blanketed the Puget Sound region, making travel difficult.
Conditions improved markedly by Thursday morning, public works officials said.
Snow was melting and falling from tree limbs south and east of Bellingham, where temperatures were warmer.
Light snow or flurries were possible Thursday, but no significant accumulation was expected, the National weather Service said.
Winds south of Bellingham were coming from the south-southeast and temperatures were above freezing, but across northern Whatcom County, strong northeast winds continued to keep temperatures cold.
▪ Bellingham International Airport was reporting 25 degrees at mid-day with north-northeast wind at 10 mph.
▪ Abbotsford, B.C., was reporting 17 degrees with northeast wind funneling arctic air from the Fraser Valley.
▪ At Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington, it was 41 degrees with gusty south winds.
Road crews busy
Many businesses were closed and meetings were canceled Wednesday, as Whatcom County took the worst of the Tuesday night-Wednesday storm, which added to the 4 to 5 inches of snow already on the ground in some places.
Public works, emergency managers and weather officials were advising residents to call ahead and travel only if necessary.
State, county and city road crews have been working around the clock since the storms started.
Bakerview road was icy in spots Thursday, John Bass of Bellingham told The Bellingham Herald via Facebook.
“My road doesn’t get plowed, but that crazy wind last night helped to clear a lot of snow away,” he said.
North toward Birch Bay, Lynden and Sumas, gusty northeast winds made driving difficult, buffeting cars and obscuring vision with blowing and drifting snow, according to reports at the Whatcom County Weather page on Facebook.
Randy Small of Lynden, who operates Whatcom County Weather on Twitter and Facebook, posted video from a Lynden plow truck showing heavy drifts that covered parts of city streets.
Major streets in Bellingham were covered in compact snow and ice about 7 p.m. Wednesday but crews were gaining an advantage, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the Public Works Department.
Chief Jerry DeBruin of Whatcom County Fire District 14 said conditions were still cold and windy in the Kendall, Welcome and Sumas areas.
“It’s definitely not too bad,” he told The Herald. “Roads are a little bit better. Temperatures were a little warmer, but it’s still icy out there.”
Joe Rutan, the Whatcom County engineer and assistant director of the Public Works Department, said conditions were variable Thursday morning outside Bellingham.
Roads were worse north of the city and at higher elevations, he said in an email.
“County road crews worked throughout the night plowing and applying salt and sand. Still, many secondary and neighborhood roads are still compact snow and ice,” Rutan said.
“Weather conditions are expected to continue to create highly variable road conditions throughout the county. Warming daytime temperatures and nighttime freezing could create dangerous ice conditions in some locations,” he said.
Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the Bellingham Public Works Department, said crews made progress Wednesday on city streets.
By Thursday morning, snow was mostly gone from busier streets in Bellingham, but packed snow and ice remained on side streets.
A water main break Wednesday on Racine Street caused headaches for Public Works crews, Cloud said.
Mike Olinger, Bellingham’s street maintenance supervisor, said side streets are now a priority.
“This morning and throughout the day, crews will continue to work on residential streets,” Olinger said in an email.
“We currently have all four large trucks with sanders and plows and three small trucks with sanders and plows working the neighborhoods. Stormwater crews are starting to gear up to deal with the localized flooding that is likely to occur from catch basins currently buried in snow,” he said.
Washington state Department of Transportation cameras showed wet pavement mid-day Thursday on Interstate 5.
Crews cleared massive amounts of snow from the freeway in Whatcom County, WSDOT North Traffic tweeted.
Fallen trees were blocking one lane of I-5 northbound near North Lake Samish, WSDOT tweeted about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management, said WSDOT was reporting compact snow and ice on all state highways in Whatcom County.
“Chains are required from Maple Falls to the Mount Baker Ski Area with upwards of a foot of new snow since yesterday,” he said in an email.
All buses were running normal routes except the 72X to Kendall, Whatcom Transportation Authority tweeted about 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
Mt. Baker Ski Area was open but the Heather Meadows base area was closed for snow removal, ski area officials said at the website.
Search and rescue volunteers with all-wheel-drive vehicles have been providing emergency transport services since Sunday and are activated through the weekend. They have responded to more than 30 requests, Gargett said.
Winter shelters have been opened for homeless and at-risk people in Bellingham.
Gargett said that emergency response times that had been affected by fallen trees, road conditions and downed power lines were beginning to return to normal.
Gale warning, flooding
A coastal flood advisory was in effect Thursday morning, Gargett said.
A gale warning was posted until 4 p.m. Friday for southeast winds in 30- to 40-knot range with gusts up to 60 knots, Gargett said.
Low pressure from an approaching storm could produce modest tidal surges, he said in an email.
“We can expect minor tidal overflow on Friday and Saturday in their forecast for our king tides. Coastal communities in Whatcom County may see tidal effects from this event as it will coincide with the high tide at about 10 a.m. Thursday morning,” he said.
Affected areas include Lummi Island, the Lummi Peninsula, Sandy Point, Cherry Point, Chuckanut, Drayton Harbor, Blaine, Semiahmoo, Bellingham and Point Roberts, he said.
“Drivers and persons on the beach should be cautious along low-lying coastal roads and beaches particularly in the Point Roberts areas,” Gargett said.
Sanitary Service Company said its drivers might not be able to collect trash and recycling when road conditions are unsafe. Garbage and recycling will be collected on the next regularly scheduled pickup day. The company recommends using plastic bags for extra garbage.
About 400 Puget Sound Energy customers remained without electricity early Thursday, the utility company said at its website.
Most were south of Bellingham, around the Chuckanut and Lake Samish communities and the Alger-Cain Lake Road area.
PSE said high winds toppled trees and the weight of wet, heavy snow caused limbs and branches to bend and snap, falling onto power lines.
A large tree fell across Lake Louise Road on Wednesday afternoon, causing detours for Sudden Valley residents and knocking out electricity to about 3,500 PSE customers for eight hours.
Lake Whatcom Boulevard south of Lake Louise Road was closed Wednesday, causing long detours for those headed to the Alger area.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 5:26 AM with the headline "Whatcom County’s warming up, but light snow or flurries still possible Thursday."
