Describing Frostbite In Simple Terms

Three people were killed and a baby injured when a power line fell on a car during an ice storm in Portland, Oregon, Wednesday.

R​ick Graves, a spokesperson for Portland Fire and Rescue, told The Associated Press the power line was dragged down by a tree branch and then crashed onto the car. The car's passengers are thought to have been electrocuted when they exited the vehicle, Graves said.

T​he storm has been named Indigo by The Weather Channel.

"Winter Storm Indigo brought freezing rain to parts of the Northwest Wednesday," weather.com digital meteorologist Madeleine Scheinost said. "Over a quarter of an inch of accumulation was reported in the Portland metro."

(​MORE: The Latest Winter Storm Forecast)

T​he National Weather Service measured between a quarter and a half inch of ice at its office in Portland, according to a social media post.

Trees, cars and roads were covered in ice and s​chools and government offices shut down. Residents were urged to stay off the roads.

T​he system is the latest in a barrage of storms and extreme winter weather to trek from west to east across the U.S.

"Indigo will continue to move east this week, and heavy snow is possible in parts of the Cascades and Rockies," Scheinost said.

Separately, a​t least seven deaths in Portland were connected to Winter Storm Heather, which brought high winds, snow and ice to the region over the weekend.

Around 60,000 power outages were being reported in Oregon as of about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday night, according to PowerOutage.us.

Diane Flaherty, who lives in a hilly, tree-covered southwest Portland neighborhood, told the AP she left her house Saturday when a large tree in her front yard starting swaying in the wind.

“It was like a war zone,” Flaherty said, describing the sound of trees cracking and crashing into cars and homes. “We were absolutely stunned.”

Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.