Tag Archives: weather

Cal Anderson’s wading pool will remain dry this summer — Here’s how a new way to stay cool in the park is coming together

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With reporting by Nova Berger/CHS Intern

As the Seattle Parks Department and community and business groups work to make improvements and add new features to bring more activity to Cal Anderson and help address public safety issues around the busy Capitol Hill park, there is a big, wet opportunity right there and waiting this summer.

The Cal Anderson Park Alliance is working on early planning for reactivating — or replacing — the park’s wading pool that has sat dry for years thanks to a confluence of budget issues and needed repairs and construction.

The pool was officially drained and closed in 2020 as part of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAPA is now leading efforts to explore the future of the wading pool. They are working with the city to evaluate options for the space that they hope will improve the park while also providing a needed resource when temperatures soar in the neighborhood. Continue reading →

Heat wave could bring highest temperatures since Seattle’s hottest day ever

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Find respite at the Miller Community Center

It will be a stretch but Seattle could see its highest recorded temperature since the city’s hottest day ever in 2021.

CHS showed you what Capitol Hill looked like in June 2021 as temperatures soared past 107 F in the city. Tuesday’s forecast is calling for a Seattle high of only 97 F but if it gets there, the thermometer will be marking the highest temperatures we have seen in Seattle since.

In addition to the fun times of staying cool in the city, the heat brings serious challenges for those living unsheltered and for workers. In 2021, many businesses on Capitol Hill had to shut down due to unsafe conditions in kitchens as temperatures rocketed above 100 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the region through Wednesday evening as high temperatures bring “a moderate to major risk of heat-related illness” to vulnerable people in the area. Continue reading →

We have a winner — The first daffodil bloom of Seattle ‘spring’ spotted in Volunteer Park

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No more callers. We have a winner. The contest to spot the first daffodil bloom in Volunteer Park lasted about three weeks.

The Volunteer Park Trust announced over the weekend that the first photo of a bloom has already come in after a park visitor found the small burst of golden yellow just steps away from the park’s historic conservatory.

CHS reported here in January on the trust’s contest to reward the eagle-eyed visitor who spots the first Volunteer Park daffodil bloom of spring.

Despite the topsy turvy effects of a fading El Niño, Seattle’s official spring is still a long ways off. The first day of spring 2024 is recorded as March 19th. You can turn your clocks forward an hour a week earlier on the 10th.

As for the park, there will be hundreds more where the first came from.  In 2021, volunteers planted 25,000 daffodil bulbs in tribute to Doug Bayley, co-founder of Volunteer Park Trust and “the visionary who conceived of this beautiful and impressive swath of yellow returning permanently every spring.”

 

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Fields damaged during Seattle freeze leave youth and recreational sports schedules a mess — UPDATE

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The many colored lines of the Washington Park field (Image: City of Seattle)

Several sports fields across Seattle are closed and in need of repairs after a sustained bout of freezing temperatures has caused damage to the synthetic turf. Seattle Parks says at least nine of the fields at its facilities have been reported damaged and the Seattle Public Schools system has closed all of its turf fields to “assess the severity and scope of the damage on their fields.”

“Unfortunately, this weekend with the extreme freezing weather, a number of SPR (Seattle Parks) and SPS (Seattle Public Schools) synthetic turf fields experienced buckling and damage underneath the turf, resulting in lumps, divots and craters in areas of the field that make them unplayable,” the statement from the city parks department read. Continue reading →

Pikes/Pines | What your feathered friends need on a below freezing Capitol Hill

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A Spotted Towhee looking out from food and shelter on a frozen day. (Image: Brendan McGarry)

We might not be able to translate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs directly to our fellow creatures – afterall we don’t know how much things like belonging matter to a Northern Flicker. But it goes without saying that our feathered neighbors on the Hill all need food, water, and shelter above all else.

With some of the lowest temperatures in decades upon us, it’s a good time to remember what it takes for birds on the Hill to survive. Wild and free they may be and the list might seem simple, but boy, it’s real out there.

For birds, freshwater can be the hardest thing for birds to find when the temperature dips. What collects in a small indentation on a sidewalk or light morning dew can provide enough for a bird like a Song Sparrow, but freezing weather frequently takes this access away. If you want to help birds and other animals during periods of cold weather – give them access to water and find a way to keep it from freezing. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Capitol Hill cold snap as Seattle could see lowest temperature since 2010

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Cal Anderson got a crusty coat Thursday night

With a light dusting of snow and an hour of charming snowflakes, an arctic blanket of cold moved over Capitol Hill and the Puget Sound Thursday night as the area moves into a few days of below freezing weather including some of the coldest temperatures seen in Seattle since 2010. Continue reading →

Seattle’s chances of significant snow have dried up but city and Regional Homelessness Authority ready for cold

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The chances of significant snowfall in Seattle this weekend have all but melted away but the city is still in line for a cold snap. National Weather Service forecasters say a predicted storm is likely to bring heavy snowfall far south of Seattle into Oregon as temperatures here dip into the low 20s.

The City of Seattle and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority say they are prepared for the cold: Continue reading →

911 | Tree falls on 17th Ave, Volunteer Park Reservoir fire, Broadway Rite Aid break-in

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(Image: Charlie the Dog)

(Image: Charlie the Dog)

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Big tree down: A large tree rooted in rain-soaked soil toppled onto 17th Ave overnight blocking the street and ripping open a gas line. Seattle Fire was called to 17th and Denny around 2 AM to the three-foot wide downed tree after reports of a hissing sound and the smell of natural gas. Puget Sound Energy crews arrived at the scene just after 3 AM to lock down the broken line under conditions reported as still and very little wind. There were no reported injuries in the early Wednesday morning incident. 17th Ave was reported blocked and it wasn’t clear when SDOT would be out to cut away the fallen tree and branches to clear the area. UPDATE: A reader reports SDOT was on the scene this morning to remove the fallen tree.
  • Volunteer Park Reservoir fire: Seattle Fire and its specialized Energy Response Unit were dispatched to the Volunteer Park Reservoir Wednesday morning to a report of light smoke coming from an underground vault facility near the body of water. According to radio updates, responding crews reported what appeared to be burning debris within the gated Seattle Public Utilities facility just after 7 AM. It’s not clear what started the fire and how it was remedied in a response that was still underway hours later. SFD’s Energy Response Unit is a new team from the fire department and Seattle City Light launched earlier this year to fight electrical fires in substations and underground vaults. It is based at Capitol Hill’s Station 25.
  • Another Volunteer Park area fire: SFD was also on the scene an hour earlier on the west edge of the park along Federal Ave E where a caller reported a chemical toilet at a residential work site was on fire. Seattle Fire responded to deal with the blaze. There were no reported injuries. Seattle Police was also in the area at a nearby condo building responding to a reported crisis situation.
  • Pike/Belmont knife assault: SPD was called to the intersection of E Pike and Belmont after a woman suffered a reported knife wound in an altercation Monday afternoon. SPD and Seattle Fire responded to the area just after 4 PM to the reported stabbing and found a victim with a non-life threatening knife wound to the head:
    At 1609 hours, Officers were dispatched to an assault where the victim was stabbed in the head. The altercation started over an argument relating to pedestrian and scooter interference. A fight ensued between the victim and two suspects and while the victim was defending herself, she was stabbed in the head. The suspects fled the area. An area check was conducted while the victim was treated at the scene and later transported to the hospital. A possible suspect was located and during the investigation, multiple warrants were found. Unfortunately, the suspect could not be identified by the victim. The possible suspect was booked into SCORE jail on her warrants.  
  • Rite Aid burglary: Police were called to the recently shut down Broadway Rite Aid to a reported break-in Wednesday morning. Workers reported someone had busted into the shuttered store as they arrived to continue boxing up and clearing out remaining items around 9:30 AM. CHS reported here as bankruptcy woes over federal and state opioid lawsuits have led to the closure of the neighborhood’s remaining Bartell Drugs and Rite Aid stores. It was not immediately clear what if anything had been taken in the break-in. There were no reported arrests
 

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After summer’s ‘unprecedented stretch of dry weather,’ Seattle residents urged to conserve 49 million gallons of water per day

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With the Puget Sound about to be walloped by its first bout of true Pacific Northwest-level fall and winter rains, Seattle Public Utilities is putting out a call for help that shows just how close the region is cutting it in terms of water supply after an extremely dry summer.

Citing “an unprecedented stretch of dry weather” this summer, SPU is asking residents to cut down on things like showers, watering lawns and flowers, and more as drought conditions have taxed the city’s water supply. SPU says the goal is to drop the average water consumption for the region to 100 million gallons per day and “keep it at or below that level until we get enough rain to refill the mountain reservoirs sufficiently.”

The region is currently averaging use of about 149 million gallons per day, according to SPU. Continue reading →

2023 smoke season returns with weekend forecast of ‘unhealthy’ air over Seattle — Plus, Hurricane Hilary’s ‘cone of uncertainty’

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The 2023 Seattle smoke season has come in fits and starts with preparations starting with a bout in early July as wildfire — and 4th of July fireworks — added to the haze. This weekend, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says the skies above Seattle could again reach “unhealthy” smoke levels by Sunday

Winds are likely to shift overnight Friday and into Saturday AM. Wildfire smoke is likely to reach Snohomish County Saturday morning, with smoke continuing to move south throughout the day. Concentrations could reach MODERATE to UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS through most of the Puget Sound on Sat with worsening smoke on Sun that could UNHEALTHY or worse at times.

“Limit your exposure outside and use air purifiers, if available,” the agency advises.

The National Weather Service is currently predicting “areas of smoke” through Sunday night with clearing beginning Monday as winds shift. One thing you probably won’t have to worry about is Hurricane Hilary as it degrades and passes over Southern California dumping years’ worth of rain. Some forecasts show the “cone of uncertainty” and impacts from the storm reaching into Washington in the form of gusty winds. Continue reading →