UPDATE | 19 hurt as 100 vehicles crash on I-84 near Pendleton. Highway near Hanford still closed

Nineteen people were taken to area hospitals with injuries after an estimated 98 cars and trucks crashed along less than 2 miles of icy Interstate 84 in the Blue Mountains Monday afternoon.

There were 15 to 20 cars and trucks in the largest pileup, according to the Oregon State Police.

A total of 170 vehicles either crashed, got stuck or were blocked in by crashes. Buses took 71 uninjured people stranded at the crash site to the Pendleton Convention Center.

The interstate from the Idaho border to just east of Pendleton did not fully reopen until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Also, Highway 241, used by Hanford site workers coming from the Sunnyside area, was closed after seven crashes in blizzard conditions.

The National Weather Service is warning of very cold temperatures through Thursday across much of Washington and Oregon due to Arctic air dropping into the region.

But no more snow is forecast this week in the Tri-Cities, and no more snow is forecast at Deadman Pass in Oregon until at least Wednesday night.

In the Tri-Cities, the coldest night of the week was expected on Tuesday, with a low of 15. Lows should be about 20 or just above Wednesday through Friday nights.

Highs were forecast to be around freezing Tuesday and Wednesday, warming to 37 on Thursday and then the 40s Friday through the weekend.

Windy conditions will drop the wind chill to as low as minus 1 on Tuesday night, increasing to 25 on Wednesday afternoon.

Highway 241

The highway closed six miles north of Sunnyside to the intersection with Highway 24 about 4:30 p.m. Monday due to crashes and low visibility from blowing snow, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Some cars were abandoned along the roadway because of the unsafe driving conditions.

The Washington state Department of Transportation expected to assess conditions for reopening at noon Tuesday.

Interstate 84

The OSP was called about 12:20 p.m. to an initial pileup about 20 miles east of Pendleton and just east of the Deadman Pass summit on Interstate 84.

Officers were notified of additional crashes while they were arriving and once there could hear the scraping metal of more crashes behind them, according to the OSP.

Initially 17 patients were taken to area hospitals and then two more patients were transferred from the Pendleton Convention Center from hospitals.

The convention center was used to temporarily shelter stranded people, with taxi company and a church providing vans to take people from the convention center to hotels.

The Umatilla County Emergency Operations Center was activated to help coordinate response.

The interstate was closed westbound from as far as the Idaho border to just east of Pendleton from early afternoon Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

It was closed eastbound from near Pendleton to La Grande until about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, with pilot cars available to help guide traffic around the area where crashed vehicles were still being removed.

Good coordination with many agencies and about six tow companies helped clear the roadway enough that it was fully opened before the expected time of mid morning Tuesday, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Agencies worked through the night.

Some disabled vehicles were moved off the roadway and some were staged as the nearby truck weigh station and rest area.

This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 6:55 PM.