Winds, Snow and Rain Lash Northwest; Midwest Buried : Many Highways Blocked; Power to Thousands Off

A powerful storm blitzed parts of the Northwest today with gale-force winds, snow and rain after a blizzard buried the Midwest under more than 30 inches of snow, stranding holiday travelers, cutting power to thousands and shoving temperatures to record lows.

Ten deaths on Sunday were blamed on the weather.

Forecasters in Northern California said “all but the largest ships should remain safely in port until seas subside.” Morning winds gusted to 55 m.p.h. and sea swells were about 15 feet, with warnings that they could rise. The Coast Guard warned that navigation buoys might be shifted by the rough seas.

“The storm is about as intense as storms get in the Pacific,” forecaster Dale Goudeau said.

Foot of Snow Expected

As much as a foot of snow is expected to fall today on the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon.

Blizzard conditions in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge forced state police to close Interstate 84 between Troutdale and Hood River early today. “Visibility is just practically zero,” said a police spokesman.

“It’s very icy in western Washington,” said State Patrol communications officer Philip Annis in Olympia today. “Vancouver got it bad. It’s had freezing rain all night. It’s one big Popsicle down there.”

Blowing snow closed U.S. 2 in eastern Washington from Coulee City to Almira, police said.

‘Very Wet Snow’

The weather service said five inches of “very wet snow” had fallen at Donner Summit near Lake Tahoe since the storm started. About 500 people in San Jose lost power Sunday night and a few more north of San Francisco today.

President Reagan’s aides in Los Angeles said they had considered abandoning plans for Reagan to fly to Seattle to speak at a fund-raiser for Sen. Slade Gorton because of the Northwest storm, but decided to go ahead with the flight anyway.

In Idaho today, snow fell in the panhandle as rain pelted the southern part of the state, threatening flooding as the temperature at Boise rose above freezing for the first time in two weeks. At Estes Park, Colo., the mercury leaped from 4 degrees to 34 in just three hours early today, signaling the start of the warming trend, Denver forecaster Bill Kneas said.

Billings, Mont., recorded a temperature of 20 below zero early today, 18 degrees lower than the previous record low for the date. In Kansas City, Mo., the 90-year-old record cold temperature for the date of 7 degrees was broken by 4 degrees. Forecasters predicted wind chills to 40 below zero early today for eastern Kansas.

18 Inches Near Dubuque

In Iowa, the storm had dropped 18 inches of snow at Dorchester near Dubuque by 6 a.m. today.

Winter storm warnings extended from eastern South Dakota, western Iowa, and parts of Illinois and lower Michigan.

In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where a blizzard warning was in effect, at least 34 inches of new snow was on the ground today at Houghton and 29 inches at Marquette, while Sault Ste. Marie received 20 inches and 15 inches fell at Escanaba, the weather service said. Scattered power outages were reported.

“All the roads are impassable,” State Police Sgt. Bob Johnson said from a post near Houghton. He said blowing snow had created many drifts.

“In a word, it’s nasty,” State Trooper Dave Lemkee said in Iron Mountain, Mich.