Transportation Agencies Gear Up For Round Two Of Snowfall

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is gearing up for a second round of snowfall after snow accumulation Tuesday night caused widespread closures and delays Wednesday morning.

Between 2 inches in Portland and 8 inches in Sandy fell Tuesday night, and little snow accumulation is expected Wednesday and through the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

Less than 1 inch of accumulation is expected Wednesday and Thursday night with little to no accumulation Friday.

“Most definitely it’s going to slow down,” said David Bishop, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. “And at last as it stands right now, we have it actually transitioning into rain rather than snow through Friday.”

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The sun has melted away some of Tuesday night’s snow, and so far, PBOT is satisfied with the implementation of its new winter weather response plan, which was modeled around the mistakes of last winter.

“We’ve tried a lot of new things,” said Dylan Rivera, public information officer with PBOT. “New material with road salts, new technique with private contractors.

We've seen the public respond better and be more mindful of the warnings we give. Overall it's been really positive experience."

Wednesday night, PBOT plans to have crews on 12 hour shifts to clear roads. It also plans to use salt on 12 of its approved salt routes, in addition to 4 routes announced by Commissioner Dan Saltzman Tuesday afternoon.

So far, the city has used 90 of its 800 available tons of non-corrosive road salt to de-ice roads.

"We've had good results with the use of salt," Rivera said. "It shows a lot if promise for the future."

Rivera says the agency plans to eventually conduct a full assessment of its response plan this year. As for problems, Rivera says some drivers have abandoned their vehicles despite ticketing and tow warnings.

Additional changes include posted elevation signs in the city's Southwest and Northwest neighborhoods.

“We got an immediate response from people who had lived in Multnomah Village for 20 years and didn’t realize they were 500 feet above sea level,” Rivera said. “The weather is just dramatically different there.”

Despite the snow accumulation, Bishop with the National Weather Service says February remains drier than normal.

“It puts us at almost an inch and a half behind what we would expect for the month of February,” he said.

Multnomah County, meanwhile is asking for donations of winter weather gear. It's also expanding warming shelter hours Wednesday night.

Map: Portland Bureau Of Transportation Plow Activity

Use this interactive map to see where Portland's plows and snow crews are working.