Ice storm blankets Pacific Northwest a day after snowstorm

Washington State University in Pullman was closed. The University of Washington also cancelled Thursday classes at three campuses, including Seattle. Seattle schools also were closed again Thursday, as were schools in Bellingham in northwest Washington and in southeast Washington’s Pasco, Kennewick and Richland.

Lewis County, south of Olympia, had the highest snowfall amounts, ranging from 12 to 17 inches.

“It’s unusual to get this much snow for western Washington,” said Dennis D’Amico, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle.

Forecasters warned that heavy rain combined with snowmelt could lead to some Washington river flooding, especially in the Chehalis River Basin, an area that has been hit by significant floods in recent years.

The storm caused hundreds of accidents but no fatalities.

In Oregon, high winds hammered parts of the coast and caused power outages that initially affected tens of thousands of customers, with reports of gusts as high as 113 mph.

Karina Shagren, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Gregoire, said even though an emergency declaration had been issued, the National Guard had not been called up.

“This is purely a precautionary move,” she said. “At this point, we have not received any requests from cities or counties for state help, but we know weather conditions are changing rapidly so we want to be prepared.”

Ms. Shagren said that what sparked the proclamation was concern over truck drivers carrying dairy products not being able to drive more than 12 hours a day because of federal regulations.

“In order to supersede that, the governor needs to order an emergency,” she said.

Associated Press writers Doug Esser and Gene Johnson in Seattle; Ted Warren in Tacoma, Wash.; and Jonathan J. Cooper in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.

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