Is snowpocalypse over? Likely, but Tri-City roads may still be icy

Snowpocalypse 2019 may be over.

Cross your fingers.

The National Weather Service doesn’t predicts only a 20 percent chance of rain Friday, which likely would fall as rain.

Then weather should be dry through the weekend and into Tuesday, giving the Tri-Cities a chance to continue digging out from what AccuWeather estimated was about 15 inches of snow over the past week.

The Tri-Cities may not have seen the last of snow for this winter, however.

A chance of snow showers is in the weather service’s early forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Roads in the Tri-Cities could be icy Friday morning.

A chance of freezing rain was forecast for Thursday night, turning to a slight chance of rain or snow early Friday morning.

Students hoping for a fifth day in a row of no school — or at least a late start to classes — can check at bit.ly/snowdelays.

Another no-school day

Sleet started to fall Thursday morning.

By afternoon the precipitation was changing minute by minute, from rain to freezing rain to snow and back again.

Most K-12 schools in the Tri-Cities were closed Thursday and Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities canceled classes before the day’s end.

Hanford workers were sent home early, and about 4,000 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory workers were told to stay home.

The Mid-Columbia Libraries were closed again, and were reassuring patrons that no late fines would be collected on the days its library branches were not open.

And again Meals on Wheels could not deliver to the home-bound, though clients were encouraged to call the office if they needed food.

Traffic moving again on I-90, I-84

Travel conditions around the Pacific Northwest were improving on Thursday.

Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass was open in both directions at 5 a.m. Traction tires were recommended.

About 70 miles of the interstate closed Monday evening and late Wednesday afternoon traffic began moving again, but only eastbound. Westbound lanes remained closed overnight.

Snow removal crews were still working to widen the roadway to full width Thursday afternoon.

The westbound lanes of Interstate 84 east of the Tri-Cities closed at La Grande about 8 p.m. Wednesday when three semi trucks crashed and two caught fire 27 miles west of La Grande.

The closure was extended to Baker City and then Ontario as all the space to park trucks in La Grande and Baker City was filled.

Crews worked until about 5 a.m. to remove the crashed and burned trucks on snowy roadways so the westbound lanes could be reopened.

Roads in the Mid-Columbia continued to be closed Thursday because of blowing and drifting snow, including Highways 241, 24 and 225.

Benton County updated its list of road closures Thursday afternoon to include Ruppert Road from DeMoss Road to the West Richland city limits, Badger Road and Bofer Canyon Road between Highway 397 and Coffin Road.

Thanks for the memories

You can make the 2019 Tri-Cities Snowpocalypse a staple of your wardrobe thanks to one enterprising artist.

T-shirts and hoodies with a graphic of the snow-covered blue bridge were being sold on teespring.com for $19.99 to $38.99.

AccuWeather calculated that the Tri-Cities has received almost 15 inches of snow over the past week.

This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 9:07 AM.