This is a photo of all my 2016 bullshit being burned inside an envelope on a grill in the snow in Seattle. ❄️Happy Holidays, y'all! pic.twitter.com/ts2rrUNIYt
— Carrie Melissa Jones (@caremjo) December 9, 2016
Enjoy it while it lasts. Snow fell on Capitol Hill Thursday night in what looks likely to be the heaviest snowfall the area has seen since 2013 — like we reported earlier this week, the low bar is 7/10ths of an inch. The moment the heavy flakes first fell just before 8 PM likely put a few smiles on the face of local meteorologists. The weather folks took a decent social media beating in the wake of predictions of an October windstorm that fell far short of the headlines and continued criticism this week as forecasted snow totals for the Seattle area fell from 4 to 5 inches to 1 inch or even none. Tonight’s snow is predicted to give way to rain overnight and a sloppy but snow-free morning commute — but we’ll see.
A dozen or so things to know when it snows — even an inch — on Capitol Hill
In the meantime, we’ll collect a few pictures and notes here on the novel night. With La Nina around, this might be the first of many snow nights this winter but, for now, we’ll give the return of more serious #seasnow a little extra attention.
Though main routes remain drivable and free from snow, side streets especially toward the top of the Hill are seeing enough accumulation to affect driving conditions. We will post any updates on transit and the roads that need to be passed along. See something we need to know about? [email protected] or call/txt (206) 399-5959.
UPDATE 1:25 AM: By 1 AM, most of Capitol Hill had one or two inches of snow accumulated and it was still coming down. Seattle’s army of truck plows and aggressive de-icing and salting, however, had managed to keep major streets clear. Earlier in the night, the notoriously slippery E John claimed a Metro #10 after its driver attempted to continue east after stopping just past 12th Ave to offload passengers. “Don’t stop!” the driver yelled as another 10 coach approached and kept its head of steam up for the trip up the hill. But even John was kept clear into the wee hours of the morning once SDOT’s plows caught wind of the slippery conditions. SPD’s new SUV-style vehicles, meanwhile, seemed to be handling the wintry weather in stride without the logistical headache of deploying chains the old cruisers needed to handle Seattle snow. Police were kept busy with small collisions and various shenanigans including several reports of fireworks and a reported assault by snowball but there were no major crashes or injuries reported. We’ll find out what the morning brings. Take it slow.
The City of Seattle kept a 100-bed co-ed shelter at the Seattle Center open overnight through the week to give people an opportunity to sleep out of the cold. On our passes across the Hill during the night, CHS still found plenty of people making the best of it under piles of blankets and clothes or cardboard in doorways and under overhangs.
A few hundred people might have slow starts on their Fridays. Cal Anderson and Bobby Morris field were crowded with people and dogs playing in the snow, building snow people, and tossing snowballs. We even found one guy on a Solowheel. So did a lot of snowballs.
UPDATE 6:30 AM: It’s a melty mess out there with cold and freezing rain coming down and people starting to wake up. Seattle Schools are starting the day with a two-hour delay. Expect most parts of your life to be just a little slower and slushier than normal. Main roads are wet and cleared. Side streets and sidewalks and clogged gutters are slushy and gross.
UPDATE 7:50 AM: Seattle Fire was called to a reported fire in a parking garage at Summit and Pike around 7:10 AM and arrived to find light smoke coming from a small fire in what was described as a storage area.
On my Friday morn commute, snow still covers Cal Anderson Park @jseattle pic.twitter.com/F2DhyzfrKf
— Mark Nakagawa (@hnlmark) December 9, 2016
Cal Anderson park at midnight #seattlesnow pic.twitter.com/mh1AMmvVpD
— Nick Topper (@TotalyNotASpy) December 9, 2016
Snow is definitely sticking on the top of Capitol Hill! pic.twitter.com/q29peurM3S
— Marley Blonsky (@MarleyBlonsky) December 9, 2016
#snow #Seattle #wawx #CapitolHill ignore the Gilmore Girls in the background @jseattle @ScottSKOMO @KING5Seattle @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/mwzpXc7PIX
— Steve Mitchell (@stevepmitchell) December 9, 2016
SDOT packs up Pike People as #snow starts to fall. @jseattle pic.twitter.com/fgmueJfkCY
— Kaylee Osowski (@kjosowski) December 9, 2016
Some snow sticking on side streets around Volunteer Park pic.twitter.com/gSKNCZO3na
— jseattle (@jseattle) December 9, 2016
