Heavy Snow, Rain Cripple Storm-Racked Northwest

The Northwest was pummeled by its second major storm in less than a week Sunday as 2 feet of snow, heavy rain and high winds blocked major highways, collapsed roofs and closed the Space Needle.

Washington Gov. Mike Lowry declared a state of emergency in 12 counties, citing widespread destruction from freezing rain, snow and flooding. He also activated the National Guard.

Blizzard warnings were posted for northwestern Washington, where snow was piled up by bone-chilling 90-mph gusts. “I can’t imagine anybody worse off than us,” said Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen.

Heavy rain compounded the problems, creating a glaze of ice.

Bus service was canceled in Seattle, where 7 to 10 inches of snow fell overnight on top of 6 to 12 on the ground from Thursday’s storm. A symbol of the city, the 610-foot Space Needle, was closed because heavy wet snow and ice were falling in “something resembling missiles,” said spokeswoman Lynn Brackpool.

Service was drastically curtailed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Several hundred passengers spent the night there because airline crews couldn’t reach the airport, said Anita Risdon, a Port of Seattle spokeswoman.

In Oregon, ice caused a two-hour power outage at Portland International Airport’s southern terminal during the morning, delaying flights for half the airport’s passengers.

Whatcom County and neighboring parts of Canada’s British Columbia were hardest hit. Whatcom County got more than 2 feet of snow, and the 90-mph gusts dropped the windchill factor past 50 degrees below zero.

One man was feared dead on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge when the backhoe he was using to clear away ice jams at the foot of the 620-foot Multnomah Falls slid into the water.

In Northern California, rain driven by winds up to 60 mph packed a less powerful punch than forecasters had predicted.

Still, the National Weather Service warned that at least two more storms were on the horizon, and that they could pose trouble for swollen rivers. Just north of the Russian River in Sonoma County, 4.4 inches of rain had fallen by noon.