Frigid Storm Paralyzes Parts of Pacific Northwest

A powerful storm that dumped snow and freezing rain across the Northwest left more than 300,000 homes and businesses without power Friday in Washington and Oregon, halted travel and closed highway passes through the Cascade Range.

Downtown Seattle was a virtual ghost town, with almost no traffic and few people.

At least three deaths were blamed on the storm. A Portland, Ore., man died of a heart attack while trimming broken tree limbs in his yard; a 62-year-old Washington state woman was killed in a collision Thursday with another car on a road covered with snow and ice; and a Washington state man was asphyxiated by fumes from a generator being operated in a closed area at his home.

The storm sent ice-laden trees crashing down on homes, streets and power lines, and more rain and snow were expected late today.

Snowfall amounts in western Washington ranged from about 6 inches in downtown Seattle to 13 1/2 inches in suburban Mountlake Terrace. In Oregon, more than 2 inches of freezing rain fell on the Columbia River Gorge, which had 8 inches of snow on the ground.

In Washington’s Thurston County, at the southern end of Puget Sound, only 4 inches of snow fell, but freezing rain created a mess by felling trees and power lines.

“I think this is going to get worse before it gets better,” said Pat Bernard, who was among shoppers who lined up under emergency lights at a grocery store in Tumwater, near Olympia, to buy batteries, fire logs and other supplies for their powerless homes.

Scores of holiday travelers and skiers were stranded when at least 2 feet of snow closed the two major routes across the Cascade Range in Washington--Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, hundreds of people spent Thursday night in the terminal after dozens of flights were canceled.

The terminal lost power--and heat--for more than three hours overnight, although emergency generators kept ground control and essential services running, airport spokesman Mike Merritt said.

An estimated 400 arrivals and departures had been canceled by noon Friday and only “a handful” of flights were being made, Merritt said.

Flooding and mudslides caused Amtrak to cancel passenger trains between Seattle and Eugene, Ore.

Puget Sound Power & Light Co., western Washington’s largest private utility, had 246,330 customers without service Friday afternoon--an increase from the morning as ice-coated wires and tree limbs continued to fall, utility spokeswoman Betty Werblun said.

Seattle City Light spokeswoman Sharon Bennett said about 5,500 city customers were without power Friday afternoon, while Tacoma City Light reported about 20,000 customers without power.

In the Portland area, where 162,000 customers were without power at the storm’s height, about 50,000 had no electricity at midday.

In California, the state’s northern and central areas were expected to bear the brunt of the storm as it moves south today.

“It’s really going to be a mess,” said Jon Erdman, meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather data to The Times.

Forecasts called for 5 to 10 inches of rain tonight through Monday, with the Monterey Bay northward receiving the heaviest. Erdman also forecast “almost tropical storm-force winds” gusting up to 60 mph.

“Stay wherever you are,” Erdman told Southern Californians. “Don’t take any vacations up north.”

* FOG, ACCIDENTS SHUT I-5: Crashes involving 28 vehicles close the Grapevine. B1