News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Suttle Lake froze up last week.
Winter returned to Sisters with a strong storm last week that dropped several inches of snow across the area and made traveling treacherous.
Snow accumulations were relatively slight in Sisters — a couple of inches that never required street plowing. Further west, in Black Butte Ranch and Camp Sherman, snowfalls were heavier. Suttle Lake lay under a sheet of ice.
The major impact of the late-season snowfall was on the roads. It seems that drivers had gotten used to dry pavement and did not adjust well to a return to winter driving conditions.
Law enforcement responded to a slew of weather-related accidents. In the immediate Sisters area, none of those accidents resulted in life-threatening injuries.
According to Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office reports, two cars collided on Highway 20 near Fryrear Road last weekend when one lost control on the slick roadway. Another vehicle that attempted to slow down to avoid the accident slid off the road and rolled onto its side.
A driver in Tollgate lost control and tipped over on an icy street and bad road conditions may have contributed to a collision when a passing driver clipped the vehicle he was passing and both went off the road. The passing driver was cited.
Corporal Wayne Morgan of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office advises drivers not to get complacent just because the calendar says winter should be over soon.
“this time of year you don’t know what conditions are going to be,” he said. “It may appear dry, but it’s going to be icy a lot of times. People just need to be cautious and allow themselves more time and slow down.”
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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