Weather wreaks havoc with Columbia Basin

COLUMBIA BASIN — Heavy snow, rain and high winds pounded the Columbia Basin Thursday and early today, causing numerous accidents on roadways and knocking out residents' electricity.

The city of Quincy is completely without power as of 9:30 a.m. today, said a Grant County Public Utility District spokesman. The city lost power during the night.

High winds began blowing around 9 p.m. Thursday and continued through the morning, leaving tree limbs tangled in transmission lines and PUD crews working to restore power, said district spokesman Gary Garnant today. The PUD has received hundreds of calls for downed transmission wires and poles from Grant County residents and businesses without power, he said.

Peak winds at Wanapum Dam were clocked as high as 69 miles per hour around midnight, Garnant said. The PUD registered speeds of 82 miles per hour shortly after midnight at Priest Rapids Dam.

The PUD spokesman said every available line crew, and some contract crews, were currently replacing transformers, repairing downed or damaged transmission poles and lines.

Roadways became impassable and dangerous Thursday afternoon and through the night. The Washington State Patrol reported 30 collisions in the Basin, mostly vehicles sliding off the road into ditches, receiving minimal damage. No injury collisions were reported, Trooper Rich Magnussen said.

"We got really lucky we didn't have any real serious injuries because of this storm," Magnussen said. "The few injury collisions we had were relatively minor. We're real happy about that."

He said the treacherous road conditions were caused by heavy snow and sleet, diminishing visibility and leaving roadways wet and icy.

"We had to call people out, who were normally not working, had days off or were scheduled to work later (Thursday) night," Magnussen said. "We just had too many collisions to handle."

The accidents were concentrated on Highway 28, near Quincy and north to Wenatchee, he said. The highway was closed at the top of Trinidad Hill and the Quincy rest area to Rock Island. A number of tractor-trailer rigs were jack-knifed, snarling traffic on hills and forcing the state patrol to close the highway for two hours until 4 p.m., Magnussen said.

"It was impassable, you couldn't get through because of all the trucks. They were getting stuck right in the middle of hills," the trooper said. "Once one of those trucks gets stuck, blocks the road, everybody else has to come to a stop, loses their momentum and can't get going again."

Interstate 90 was also severely impacted by the poor visibility for drivers and snowy, wet road conditions, he said.

The state patrol reported 62 collisions in the Wenatchee area and 141 near Ellensburg. Traffic on Interstate 90 was halted for nearly two hours around 4 p.m., in both directions, between Ellensburg and Cle Elum, Magnussen said. The interstate was re-opened after tow trucks cleared vehicles blocking traffic.

He said one tractor-trailer rig turned over in an accident on the state's primary east-west route.

Today, Highway 281 between Quincy and George was closed for about an hour, starting around 5:30 a.m., as downed power lines stretched across the roadway. White Trail Road remains closed, due to downed power lines, Magnussen said.

Trucks were unable to travel just west of Quincy on Highway 28 as power lines sagged too low, Manussen said.

A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said today all state highways in north central Washington are currently open.

For Friday, drivers face other problems, the trooper said.

"All the snow that came down, the temperatures have warmed up a bit, we've got really soft soil, so we're having a lot of trees, a lot of rocks coming down on the roadway now," he said.