Blizzard Hits Northwest; Ice Plagues South

A snowstorm with winds gusting up to 100 m.p.h. blew across the Northwest on Monday. Thousands of Oregonians were left without power and trucks were toppled on roads in Wyoming.

Cold air lingered in the South. In some areas, slush from melting snow left by last week’s storm froze overnight, making roads treacherous and prompting officials to close schools in northern Georgia and South Carolina. Bridgeport, in northeastern Alabama, recorded a low of 1 degree below zero.

Meanwhile, some schools in New England were closed because buses wouldn’t start in the sub-zero cold.

In Wyoming, a Highway Department snowplow driver was rescued after several hours trapped in his truck. An avalanche shoved the vehicle about 50 yards off a highway in Teton Pass near Jackson, and co-workers went looking for the man when he did not answer radio calls. He was reported to be in satisfactory condition, recovering from severe hypothermia.

Snow fell in scattered areas of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and western North Dakota, the National Weather Service said.

Southerly winds of up to 51 m.p.h. lashed Portland, Ore., during the night and gusts up to 70 m.p.h. were reported along the coast.

Portland General Electric Co. estimated that at least 75,000 customers were without power Monday, mostly in an area from Oregon City to Salem. Several feeder lines were reported down and some substations were out, said PGE spokesman Steve Sautter.

Visibility 2 Feet

The wind created visibility problems on Interstates 15 and 84 in northern Utah, and the Highway Patrol said visibility was reduced to 2 feet by heavy snow in some areas.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol said that 55-m.p.h. winds tipped several tractor-trailer trucks onto their sides on snow-clogged Interstate 80 between Laramie and Walcott Junction, and the patrol temporarily closed the state’s major east-west artery. No serious injuries were reported. Other roads across western Wyoming were closed by drifting snow.

Temperatures dropped below zero across parts of the Northeast. In north-central Connecticut, Windsor Locks had a record low of 14 degrees below zero.

The tiny town of Canaan, Vt., reported a low of 28 degrees below zero, as did Pittsfield, Mass. Several school districts in Vermont, western Massachusetts and Connecticut delayed or canceled classes because buses wouldn’t start in the cold.