Ice is falling on top of snow, causing major problems at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, bringing trees down and causing power outages in the Northwest.
Flight delays and cancellations have been occurring at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport due to freezing rain icing up runways. There have been hundreds of cancellations and delays, affecting nearly 30,000 passengers.
Up to 250,000 customers were without power in Seattle alone overnight.
An ATV driver was killed near Issaquah, Wash., when a tree weighed down by ice came crashing down.
A new storm is slamming into the Northwest coast, allowing milder Pacific air to rush over cold air hovering at the surface. This is setting the scene for the dangerous freezing rain.
Besides creating headaches for airline passengers, motorists face extremely slippery travel. No vehicle, including those with four-wheel drive, is safe from icy roads.
RELATED: What's Next for Washington, Oregon? More Storms!, Incredible Pictures of Record-Setting Northwest Snow
The weight of ice will be heavy enough, especially on top of record-setting snow that fell on Wednesday, to down tree limbs and cut power to more communities.
A glaze of ice was covering everything early Thursday with some trees crashing down and sagging power lines near Summit, Wash.
About a quarter of an inch of ice had accumulated on surfaces in Issaquah, Wash., early Thursday. Some trees branches were snapping due to the weight of snow and ice.
Other areas that have received significant accumulations of ice with similar problems include Ballard, Puyallup, North Bend and Mirrormont, Wash.
With cold air also penetrating the interior Northwest through the Columbia River gorge, freezing rain has been causing very slippery travel across portions of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Pendleton, The Dalles and Hermiston, Ore., as well as Walla Walla and Pullman, Wash., are among the cities and towns with treacherous icy conditions.
The storm responsible for the wind, cold, rain and snow in the Northeast Friday and Saturday will slowly ease up for the balance of the holiday weekend.
A few days after a chilly storm departs the Northeast, warm weather will make a strong comeback in parts of the Midwest and the East later next week.
During Sunday's race, the skies will be variably cloudy with the risk of a few showers.
"This pup was literally singing when he saw his family," Michelle Karolicki, relocation program manager of the Central Oklahoma Humane Society, said about a reunion that took place on Thursday.
Another plunge of chilly air will set the stage for the risk of a frost and freeze centered Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and other nearby states this weekend.
Downpours and locally severe thunderstorms over the Central states will not only foil holiday weekend activities, but will also put some lives at risk.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
Cut Bank, MT (1982)
35 degrees with a mix of snow and rain. The
high temperature from the previous day was 78.
New England (1967)
(25th-26th) Coastal New England battered by a
great Nor'easter. Winds mounted to 70-80 mph
on the coast. Blue Hill had sustained
winds of 60 mph and Logan had sustained
winds of 50 mph. Lowest pressure of 29.30"
was measured over the ocean; 5-10" of snow
fell in the Berkshires with considerable damage
to the tobacco crop in the Connecticut River
Valley. Temperature dropped to 31 degrees at
Pittsfield on the 30th for a remarkable end
of May freeze.
Erie, PA (1991)
One-half inch of rain fell in only 5 minutes.
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