Light Snow Falls on Salem

Footprints in the snow in front of the state capitol, December '05 Photo By: Tim King

(SALEM) - It didn't cause many problems, but snow did fall off and on in Salem and other parts of the mid-valley Wednesday night.

Residents need to brace for more strong winds, cold weather and the real possibility that the snow could dip down as low as the valley floor.

Anyone traveling to the coast should prepare for icy conditions, particularly in the Van Duzer Corridor.

Be aware that strong winds on Wednesday caused considerable damage to trees from coastal areas, to places like Mt. Angel, where Fire Chief Don Fleck and his crews are dealing with a number of smashed cars that were crushed by the fallen trees.

"Some of the cars are leaking gasoline because they were so completely smashed. We had to hold off on the chainsaws until crews are in place with hoses."

Fleck says ODOT crews came to Mt. Angel to lend a hand with the areas damaged by the severe weather.

A PGE spokesman says the number of power outages related to this evening's strong winds have rapidly increased.

8,100 PGE customers are affected, but more than half those, 4,600 are on one power line that went out in Southeast Portland.

The majority of individual outages are in the southern part of the PGE service territory including Salem, Colton and Dayton.