‘So difficult’: Winter snow, cold slam Northwest and Sierra

By MANUEL VALDES
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Snow, ice and unseasonable cold in the Pacific Northwest and the Sierra Nevada are continuing to disrupt traffic, cause closures and force people to find refuge in emergency warming shelters. Across western Washington and Oregon, officials and private groups opened emergency spaces for people as forecasters said the extreme cold from an arctic blast that blew in Sunday could last until the weekend. In Seattle, the city canceled Tuesday garbage pickup as side streets remained treacherous. Farther south, part of the main highway from San Francisco to Reno, Nevada, remained closed Tuesday for a third day due to record-setting snow in the Lake Tahoe area.