SEATTLE: Winter weather pounded a swath of the US West on Monday, closing schools, delaying flights and turning streets into sledding hills in coastal cities like Seattle that rarely get much snow.

Parts of California and Montana braced for the threat of mudslides and avalanches this week, while the Midwest warmed up from a dangerous blast of cold last week that is linked to at least 30 deaths in several states.

The Pacific Northwest’s first major winter snowstorm hit western Washington hardest, closing numerous schools in Seattle and nearby cities, cancelling ferry service, and causing car crashes but no major injuries.

Some areas north and east of Seattle got 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimetres) of snow. Temperatures were expected to be 15 degrees below normal this week, with lows in the teens, the National Weather Service said.

More than 200 flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were cancelled and over 450 delayed.

Chris Allahyar of Edgewood, Washington, told Seattle news station KOMO-TV that he was trying to make a flight but his car got stuck on an icy road.

“Everything was fine until I got off the freeway and everything turned to ice. Couldn’t even make it off the road. I’m just stuck right now,” Allahyar said. “I really underestimated the temperature.” Communities on the northern Oregon coast got several inches of unusual snow, and it was falling steadily in Portland, Oregon. A cold spell in Portland was expected to last for about 10 days, with overnight temperatures dipping well below freezing and more snow later in the week.

The storm system lingering over the Northwest has sent waves of snow into the Northern Rocky Mountains, where it mixed with a blast of frigid arctic air and gusting winds to create hazardous driving conditions and dangerous wind chills 40 degrees below zero and lower.

The cold closed or delayed schools. Much of western and northern Montana will likely see subzero temperatures until at least Wednesday, weather service meteorologist Cody Moldan said. “We’re kind of stuck in a cold pattern,” Moldan said.

The weather was warmer near Yellowstone National Park, but the fresh snow that fell on the weak snowpack in the mountains near the park led to avalanche warnings.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2019