NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Snow slams Northwest, and even Hawaii gets some
By TOM JAMES
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Schools
closed across Washington
state and the Legislature
canceled all hearings Mon-
day with winter snowstorms
pummeling the Northwest
again as a larger weather
system wreaked havoc in
the region and even brought
snow to Hawaii.
Seattle’s metro area had
already been hit by three
snowstorms this month and
the National Weather Ser-
vice reports that Seattle-Ta-
coma International Airport
has received 14.1 inches of
snow so far in February,
more than twice the annual
average and the snowi-
est month in more than 30
years.
The storm that hit Seattle
on Sunday dumped up to 4
inches of snow and forecast-
ers said more snow or rain
was expected Monday night
and Tuesday as a lingering
jet stream drives cold arctic
air into the normally tem-
perate region, and part of
a larger cycle that has also
driven snow as far away as
Hawaii.
In the state capital of
Olympia, lawmakers can-
celed meetings and the Uni-
versity of Washington in
Seattle and Washington
State University in Pullman
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Gina Nakamura skis past a nearly life-size snow sculpture of an orca whale as downtown is just visible in a light snow Monday
in Seattle.
Lance Endo via AP
Snow on the ground in Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area
in Kula, Hawaii, on the island of Maui.
called off classes.
And in Northern Cali-
fornia, Humboldt County
beaches that have not had
snow in more than 15 years
received a dusting and bliz-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
zard conditions caused
whiteouts on mountain
roads.
In Seattle, the snow’s
effects were amplified by
a prolonged stretch of cold
temperatures.
“You’ve got storm after
storm sliding down the
sweet spot to produce low-
level snow,” said Kirby
Cook, a meteorologist at
Seattle’s National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration office. He described
weather systems pulling
cold air from Canada and
combining it with moist air
pulled east from the Pacific
Ocean.
Housing: Legislature seeks answers
Continued from Page A1
Cloudy, cold; a
little p.m. snow
Cold with occasional
wet snow
42° 31°
33° 24°
Cold with clouds
and sun
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
Cloudy and cold
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
36° 31°
40° 26°
36° 24°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
34° 24°
39° 31°
34° 29°
41° 25°
OREGON FORECAST
37° 25°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
45/31
Kennewick Walla Walla
41/32
Lewiston
42/33
39/30
Astoria
46/33
38/32
35/25
Longview
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Pullman
Yakima 34/25
43/28
44/35
Portland
Hermiston
43/34
The Dalles 39/31
Salem
Corvallis
42/36
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
40/32
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
45/37
42/29
42/33
Ontario
43/34
42/35
36/27
0.05"
0.93"
0.38"
2.46"
1.24"
1.66"
of reach for younger folks.”
Oregon legislative lead-
ers have made increasing
the housing supply and stop-
ping extreme rent increases
a priority.
The turnout at a recent
hearing on the rent increase
limit provides a sense of the
impact the price of rents has
on Oregonians.
More than 100 people tes-
tified on the rent limitation
in Senate Bill 608 during a
four-hour hearing before the
Senate Housing Committee.
“Our neighbors who
experience extreme unex-
pected rent increases or
no-cause evictions have
their whole lives suddenly
disrupted,” said House
Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Port-
land. “Their kids may have
to switch schools mid-year,
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
48/38
and with increasingly lim-
ited affordable housing
options, their search for an
available, affordable place
to move to will likely be
extremely difficult or even
impossible.”
Legislators want to allow
multiple units on land tradi-
tionally reserved for a sin-
gle home. They also want
to budget millions of dol-
lars to subsidize new homes
for low- to middle-income
families.
Some legislators who
took office this year cam-
paigned on housing reforms.
State Sen. Shemia Fagan,
D-Portland, for instance,
unseated a 12-year veteran,
Rod Monroe, in 2018 after
he opposed rent control in
the 2017 session. Fagan now
chairs the Senate Housing
Committee. The committee
on Monday, Feb. 4, passed
legislation to the Senate
that would limit annual rent
increases to 7 percent and
restrict no-fault evictions. A
vote is expected in the next
week.
The lack of supply is
the largest driver of hous-
ing prices, said Lehner, who
studies the issue.
About half of Oregon
renters spend more than
30 percent of their income
on rent, according to the
American Community Sur-
vey. Spending more than 30
percent of income on rent
means not having enough
money for other expenses,
said Katrina Holland, exec-
utive director of Commu-
nity Alliance of Tenants.
Supporters
shared
accounts of 40 to 50 percent
rent increases and evictions
for no cause after a new
landlord bought their home.
St. Anthony Provider Spotligh t
WINDS (in mph)
Caldwell
Burns
39°
23°
47°
29°
68° (1977) -16° (1929)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
43/37
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 38/29
43/36
0.29"
1.24"
0.49"
3.31"
1.85"
1.87"
HERMISTON
Enterprise
42/31
37/32
34°
21°
45°
29°
66° (1924) -8° (1929)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
43/27
Aberdeen
33/27
29/21
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
43/32
When snow does fall in
the area, normally enough
warm air is drawn from over
the Pacific to melt it soon
after it falls, but the steady
stream of cold air has kept
western Washington colder
than normal — and let the
snow build up.
“It’s really rare for us to
maintain this pattern,” Cook
said.
Joe Zagrodnik, an atmo-
spheric scientist at the Uni-
versity of Washington, said
the larger system at work —
namely the position of a cold
jet stream — was also driv-
ing warm temperatures in
Alaska and unusual weather
in Hawaii.
With a north-south ridge
of high pressure situated
off the coast of Washing-
ton and Canada, Zagrodnik
said, cold air being drawn
southward inland is being
replaced by warm air mov-
ing north offshore, driving
temperatures up in parts
of Alaska even as Seattle
freezes.
And a chunk of cold,
low-pressure air sepa-
rated from the main flow is
also drifting further west.
Known as a Kona Low,
the system caused unusual
snow on the island of Maui.
Hawaii officials said the
blanket of snow at Polip-
oli Spring State Recreation
Area is likely the first for
any state park. Polipoli is
at 6,200 feet and is possibly
the lowest elevation snow
ever recorded in the state.
When Lance Endo’s
friend camping at a state
park on Maui texted him
early Sunday that there was
snow he jumped in his truck
and drove more than hour to
see it.
“I just wanted to go play
in the snow,” Endo said.
Endo headed back down
from the park on the slopes
of Haleakala, where the
weather service says there
were snow drifts of about 4
feet, to bring his two chil-
dren up to the park.
Wed.
SSW 6-12
S 8-16
NNE 4-8
S 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
36/28
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
7:02 a.m.
5:17 p.m.
10:51 a.m.
12:18 a.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Feb 12
Feb 19
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Mar 6
William F. Bell, M.D.
is now accepting
new patients.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
Orthopedics Clinic
High 86° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -25° in Havre, Mont.
Education: Northwestern University
School of Medicine
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
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American Board of Orthopedics
Insurance Accepted: Most major insur-
ances,
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Special Services: Orthopedics and Sports
Medicine
William F. Bell, M.D.
3001 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, OR 97801
Call for your appointment today
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
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80s
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110s
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