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Deep Freeze + Deep Snow = Slow Start To Week

Geoffrey Riley/JPR

Unusually deep snow and unusually low temperatures mean the snow is hanging around valley floors in the region.

The transportation system is coming back to full strength ever so slowly.

Lack of warm temperatures to melt snow and lack of snow removal equipment left many roads icy and snow-packed from Siskiyou County on north.

Friday's storm dumped at least six inches of snow on many locations, snarling traffic and forcing cancellations of everything from the Grants Pass Christmas Parade to high school sporting events.

And by sundown Sunday, several school districts had already decided to cancel classes Monday, rather than require students and workers to travel on slippery roads.

Ashland, Phoenix-Talent, Medford, Grants Pass, Roseburg, Eugene 4J, Three Rivers Schools in Josephine and Jackson Counties, Central Point, South Upqua and Rogue River are among the districts calling off Monday classes.  Southern Oregon University, in both Ashland and Medford, will delay all classes until 10:30am.

Temperatures in the Rogue Valley are not expected to get above freezing until at least Wednesday, and more precipitation could fall later in the week as rain or snow--or both.

Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.