Northwest hit by winter storm
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Seattle (CNN) -- A day after heavy snowfall made Seattle streets look more like ski runs, freezing rain and accumulating ice shut runways at the city's airport Thursday and made travel even more treacherous.
The National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning for the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area, portions of the coastline and the state's southwest interior, including the capital, Olympia.
"An ice storm warning means severe winter weather conditions are imminent or occurring," the weather service said. "Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible. Travel is strongly discouraged."
Accumulations of two-tenths to four-tenths of an inch of ice were possible, forecasters said, and power outages were likely, along with hazards posed by falling tree branches and power lines.
However, the rain was expected to ease by late Thursday morning, and temperatures were expected to rise above freezing by about midday, the weather service said. The predicted high temperature for Seattle was 37 degrees.
Seattle's public schools remained closed Thursday. Ice prompted the closure of two of three runways at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Thursday morning, officials said, but operations were not affected.
The airport received 6.8 inches of snow on Wednesday, shattering a 1954 record of 2.9 inches.
As the snowfall slowed Wednesday night, officials warned falling temperatures were making roads dangerous.
"We are seeing multiple spin-outs and collisions," the Washington State Department of Transportation reported on its website, advising drivers to slow down as road conditions worsened.
CNN affiliate KOMO showed images of overturned vehicles and carports and awnings that collapsed under the weight of the snow.
While the large amounts of snow are no problem in places that receive snow regularly, heavy snowfall is relatively rare in Seattle, where steep hills can make winter travel treacherous.
"This city shuts down when winter hits. It's nuts. ... This city is just so unprepared for snow," Derek Stanek, 25, told CNN's iReport.
Nevertheless, city officials maintained they were ready for the storm.
Olympia had received 13 inches of snow by Wednesday afternoon, the third-highest 24-hour snowfall on record and the largest amount of snow that had fallen there since 1972, when 14.2 inches of snow fell in one day.
An avalanche warning was issued for Washington's mountainous areas following heavy snowfall in the Cascades.
"Since last Saturday, up to 30 to 60 inches of gradually increasing density snow has been deposited over and is poorly bonded to an old crusty snow surface formed after warm weather last week," the weather service said.
Forecasters said Washington's Mount Rainier could see 10 feet of snow through Friday.
Also Wednesday, melting snow and heavy rain caused flooding problems in southwest Washington and northwest Oregon, authorities said.
Floods contributed to a car accident in Albany, Oregon, Wednesday night, said Wanda Omdahl, spokeswoman for the Albany Fire Department. The car full of people drove into deep water and was swept into a canal.
An adult and child were rescued, and a child's body was recovered, CNN affiliate KPTV reported.
Zach Williams told the station that he and a friend saw the car's driver turn into a swollen creek, perhaps thinking it was a road.
"I did what I thought I could. I tried to open the doors. The doors were obviously locked. When he broke the window, I assumed the child in the back was old enough to get out through the window," Williams said. "Apparently, it was just an infant."
The car has not yet been recovered, and fire officials still haven't said how many other people are missing, KPTV said.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez, Brad Lendon, Sean Morris and Christina Zdanowicz contributed to this report.
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