Snow, ice forcing closure of major roads across Eastern Washington, Oregon

Tri-Citians are being advised to hunker down for the weekend and stay off the roads with the forecast calling for more snow, along with sleet and freezing rain.

A winter weather advisory has been issued through 7 a.m. Monday for the entire Inland Northwest.

Snow accumulations weren’t yet available for Saturday.

However, Rob Brooks, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Pendleton, said weather spotters by Saturday afternoon were reporting one inch at Badger Canyon in Kennewick, two inches in Hermiston and three inches in Walla Walla.

An additional two to four inches of snowfall is expected Sunday, moving into possible sleet and up to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation.

Brooks said there is an ice storm warning Sunday for Dayton and Waitsburg, the Walla Walla area and the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and down into the Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon, including Pendleton.

The high temperature on Sunday is expected to reach 28, with only a 1-degree drop for the overnight low. Monday should see the thermometer go above the freezing mark with a high of 37.

Hanford employees were sent home early Saturday afternoon because of adverse road conditions, while those on swing and graveyard shifts had a delayed start.

Hanford site road crews will be plowing and sanding roads throughout the weekend, but employees are told to still use caution while driving and plan for longer commute times. Updates are available by calling the Hanford Hotline, 509-376-9999, and tuning the car radio to 530 AM when near the Hanford site.

People traveling east over Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90 were stopped for at least five hours after a series of crashes and spinouts led to a 60-mile road closure.

The Washington State Patrol said one of the crashes, east of Cle Elum, resulted in serious injury when a vehicle rolled over and an 11-year-old boy who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt was thrown, the Associated Press reported.

A three-car crash killed one person, and a six-car crash left another critically injured, according to the AP.

The state Department of Transportation closed the highway’s eastbound lanes from North Bend to about 10 miles east of Cle Elum.

Emergency responders were warning Mid-Columbia motorists on Saturday to slow down and leave more space between them and the car in front because the roadways are still slick with ice under all the fresh powder.

Interstate 84 from Pendleton, over Cabbage Hill, to Ontario was one of several Eastern Oregon highways closed because of high winds, blowing snow, deep snow drifts and near zero visibility.

An Oregon Department of Transportation news release said travelers should fill up their gas tanks and find a safe place to wait out the storm, otherwise they could be stranded with no hope of rescue until the system passes.

Snow plows are not able to travel faster than 5 mph, making it impossible to keep roads passable, while some routes are just unsafe for plows, the release said.

This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Snow, ice forcing closure of major roads across Eastern Washington, Oregon."