Ice expected overnight Thursday in Salem, with temperatures warming Friday

This story was last updated at 7:50 a.m. Friday to reflect additional closures.

Salem drivers should stay cautious on roads and bridges Friday as they will have a thin layer of ice due to freezing rain overnight. The ice is expected to melt as the day goes on.

All Salem-Keizer School District schools and district offices will close Friday, along with the Salem Public Library, Center 50+, municipal court and other city of Salem offices.

On Thursday, the Salem area got between 1 to 3 inches of snow, and Keizer reported around 2.5 inches of snow, according to Colby Neuman, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Portland.

The National Weather Service’s forecast predicts between one and two tenths of an inch of ice to build up overnight. That amount of ice will make bridges, roads and sidewalks dangerous to use Friday until temperatures reach above freezing. 

Even though the predicted amount of ice will affect regular transportation, it is not expected to be enough to bring down tree branches or power lines, Neuman said.

“That scenario now is pretty off the table at this point just because so much of the precip to this point has been snow … there just isn’t going to be enough precipitation overnight to get us to that half or three-quarters of an inch kind of thing where it’s a pretty devastating ice storm,” Neuman said.

Salem will not see a long period of below-freezing temperatures, with a low of 31 degrees Thursday night, which will help thaw ice quicker, according to Neuman. Thursday had a high of 32 and Friday will have a high of 43.

The weekend will bring temperatures up to the mid to high 40s.

The most dangerous places for drivers and pedestrians will be elevated surfaces like bridges and stairways.

To stay safe, people are encouraged to stay home and only drive if it’s an emergency.  

SCHOOLS

The Salem-Keizer School District has not made an announcement about school on Friday, Feb. 14 as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

ROADS AND STREETS

City crews are working around the clock to plow snow routes, which are listed here. Crews applied deicer to city roads Tuesday ahead of the storm.

See road conditions on city traffic cameras here.

BUSES

Cherriots stopped running buses around 11 a.m. Thursday and is not running buses Friday due to hazardous weather conditions. Free rides to the warming shelters are not being offered Thursday or Friday, said spokeswoman Patricia Feeny.

WARMING SHELTERS

Two warming shelters will be open Thursday night, according to a Facebook announcement from ARCHES.

Salem First Presbyterian Church’s warming shelter will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. at 770 Chemeketa St. N.E. Over 70 people stayed there Monday night, said warming center coordinator Sue Crothers.

Seed of Faith’s shelter will be open from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. It’s located at 1230 Winter St. N.E.

Along with a place to sleep, guests at Salem warming shelters will be offered a full warm meal and food for their pets.

There will be a free shuttle service from near Marion Square Park downtown to the warming centers. The shuttle service will go from the ARCHES Day Center, at 615 Commercial St. N.E. to the shelters, and back in the morning. 

The ARCHES Day Center will open at 7 a.m. Friday, and has showers, breakfast and lunch and laundry services.

An outreach team from The ARCHES Project has been assessing unsheltered people’s immediate needs, providing aid and connecting people with warming resources, said Andrew Marshall, associate director of sheltering in an email to Salem Reporter.

VALENTINE’S DAY

Weddings at Marion County Justice Court will go on as planned. For the third year of what’s become an annual tradition, Justice of the Peace Justin Kidd will spend the day marrying couples. “It takes more than an ice storm to stop the love in Marion County!” he said in an email.

OTHER CLOSURES AND DELAYS

Last updated 7:50 a.m. Friday

• Salem-Keizer School District: All schools and district offices closed Friday.
• Salem Public Library, Center 50+, Salem Municipal Court and other in-person city offices and services closed Friday
• Salem Police Department station lobby is closed Friday
• Marion County offices are closed
• Community Action Head Start and Salem Child Development Center preschool and Head Start programs are canceled.
• Cherriots buses are not running Friday
• All Salem Health clinic appointments will be virtual Friday until 1 p.m. and urgent care will follow normal hours. Salem Health Occupational Medicine will open late at 10 a.m.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.

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