(Replace: Freeway 97 shut between Madras and I-84)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A return of freezing rain to areas of the Excessive Desert that haven’t topped freezing for days led to a renewed shutdown of Redmond Airport’s runway Saturday night time and closure of a 92-mile stretch of U.S. Freeway 97 from Madras to Interstate 84 within the Columbia River Gorge as a result of ice and a number of crashes.

“Keep away from journey within the space,” ODOT mentioned in a journey advisory issued at 10:20 p.m. “Count on an prolonged closure prone to final via the night time.”

The Nationwide Climate Service issued one other winter climate advisory Saturday afternoon via 7 a.m. Sunday for freezing rain and ice accumulations round a tenth of an inch.

The La Pine and Sunriver areas did heat as much as the higher 30s and even 40 levels, however the Bend-Redmond space held under freezing for one more day, and lightweight rain turned to freezing rain at Redmond Airport round 4 p.m. and saved falling till about 9:30 p.m..

ODOT was not displaying a closure of Freeway 97 earlier Saturday night time, however did advise of main slowdowns. The Juniper Butte space south of Madras was reported exhausting hit, as quite a few semis that had been having bother getting traction pulled over to chain up and a few had been reported to have jackknifed or slid, in keeping with social media posts.

Comply with site visitors updates on our ODOT TripCheck web page.

Redmond Airport Director Zachary Bass mentioned some planes had been being diverted as a result of freezing rain and runway closure, which probably means extra flight delays or cancellations Sunday morning. Make sure you examine along with your airline, Bass mentioned, as “issues can change so shortly” when it comes to runway situations.