A major storm east of the Cascades has dumped snow and closed businesses and schools Monday. The weather has also been a factor in several accidents and deaths. Bend, Oregon, has nearly three feet of snow in some places.
Washington’s Tri-Cities have received an unusual amount of snow. Normally, they get about seven inches of rain over the course of a year. And while it’s not unusual to get a few inches of snow -- like a powdered-sugar dusting that melts really quickly -- it’s really weird to have this much snow on the ground.
The National Weather Station in Pendleton, Oregon, said the Tri-Cities had more than 11 inches of snow since New Years and 20 inches total this winter.
That means that many businesses that rarely close are on a snow day Monday. Hanford is closed, most schools are closed, WSU-Tri-Cities is closed and the Pacific Northwest National Lab is closed.
This has been the second major snowstorm this year in eastern Washington and Oregon. A mix of rain, ice and snow is predicted east of the Cascades until the end of the week.
