High water and landslides kept city, county and state road crews kept busy Sunday and Monday dealing with the aftermath of record rainfall in the Portland area.
As the sun briefly peaked through clouds shortly after noon Monday, the National Weather Service canceled a winter weather advisory for snow that was set to expire at 6 p.m. Chances of rain remain throughout the week.
Sunday’s rainfall broke decadeslong records in Newport, Portland, Hillsboro, Eugene, Salem and other areas.
“After heavy rain events, whether it’s winter or not, landslides are always a concern,” said Dylan Rivera, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman. “These hills in Southwest and Northwest Portland, and also in far southeast areas, are prone to slides.”
Southwest Skyline Boulevard between U.S. 26 and West Burnside will be closed “for days” while crews clean up an estimated 200 cubic yards of debris that affected about a dozen trees and nearby power lines, Rivera said.
Nearby, Ron Scott has lived on Skyline for decades and said he heard trees cracking outside his home Sunday night after the Super Bowl as the hillside began to move.
His house was not touched by the landslide, which covered both lanes of traffic. Twenty years ago he said another landslide about half the size took place nearby.
Skyline blocked by landslide across all lanes at SW Fairhaven @Oregonian #pdxtraffic pic.twitter.com/KcvXZSMzkG
— Stephanie Yao Long (@stephyaolong) February 6, 2017
“We definitely dodged a bullet,” he said.
A driver was also fortunate. Scott said a woman was able to stop and avoid being buried, though some debris hit her vehicle. He used pruning shears to clear away tree limbs so she could get out of her car, uninjured.
“I’m so done with this weather,” Scott remarked.
Northwest Germantown Road is closed between U.S. 30 and Skyline while crews clear debris from multiple landslides Monday, Rivera said. Southwest Sam Jackson Park Road between Terwilliger Boulevard and Campus Drive should reopen by Monday afternoon after a slide.
Seven road closures remained as of noon because of debris in the roadway, high water or a sinkhole.
LocationReason NW Germantown Road from Skyline to Bridge Debris in roadway NW 60th at NW St. Helens Sink hole SW Upper Hall Road between SW 14th and SW 16th Debris in roadway SW Parkhill Drive near SW Parkhill Way Debris in roadway NW Newberry Road Debris in roadway SW Humphrey near 3600 SW Humphrey Standing water NW Skyline Blvd from Fairhaven to Fairview Debris in roadway
Source: PBOT as of noon Feb. 6, 2017
Kimberly Dinwiddie, Oregon Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said a landslide reached the right lane of eastbound traffic on U.S. 26 near the Oregon Zoo exit early Monday morning.
State road crews, which mostly respond to incidents on state and federal highways, reopened the closed lane by 10 a.m. and also cleared the southbound lane of Oregon 43 near the Sellwood Bridge by 10:30 a.m. after a landslide, she said. State crews were also working to clear a slide on Oregon 224 between Tong Road in Clackamas County, she said.
#pdxtraffic @Oregonian Hwy 26 eastbound right lane open now after landslide east of Zoo exit pic.twitter.com/l4dRByG43e
— Stephanie Yao Long (@stephyaolong) February 6, 2017
The Clackamas County website, as of 1:30 p.m., reports two road closures because of landslides and four because of high water. In Washington County, 19 roads were closed or partially closed because of flooding, according to its website.
“We have had water subsiding quite a bit,” said Melissa De Lyser, Washington County spokeswoman. “The rain came quickly and will hopefully go away just as quickly.”
Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Portland say the chance of rain is 80 percent Monday night, with some potential thunderstorms. A stronger, wetter system approaches from the south Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing the potential for heavy rain and mountain snow.
Temperatures Monday should peak at 40 degrees before dropping to 33 degrees in downtown Portland. On Tuesday, gauges should show high 30s before dropping to the mid 30s. The remaining week should see temperatures in the high 40s before dropping to the low 40s, the weather service said.
Meteorologist Will Ahue said preliminary indications show rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning could be comparable to Sunday’s rainfall in the Portland area. Stay tuned.
Visit OregonLive.com/weather for an hourly breakdown of today’s weather and more details to the five-day forecast.
— Tony Hernandez
thernandez@oregonian.com
503-294-5928
@tonyhreports
— Stephanie Yao Long
syao@oregonian.com
@stephyaolong
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