Snow tales: As some Snohomish County residents suffer, others play

Herald reporters fanned out across Snohomish County Wednesday to see how people were coping with the snow. Here's some of what they found.

Worried in east Snohomish County

Eric Armstrong of Sultan was worried about the power at his house, which has been flickering on and off. But he's staying home for the moment since the roads are messy.

"It's getting too risky out there, not much sense in going out because it could get worse," Armstrong said.

Nelson and Alia Lavin also have been having trouble with the power. Twice overnight, the power in their Sultan home went out. They're also worried about what will happen when the snow finally melts. They live close to the river in town.

"We hope that it will be OK," Nelson Lavin said.

Michael and Brandy Manion, who live between Sultan and Monroe, were also concerned about the snowmelt. They got more than a foot of snow at their house and were nervous about what happens when all the snow flows into the rivers.

"Its too early to do anything about the possible flooding but were going to be on alert this weekend," Michael Manion said.

Inside the snow globe

Everett's streets are largely empty, except for people walking dogs and packs of children clutching sleds.

An army of snowmen occupied many city yards, silent sentinels with spindly stick arms and gravel eyes.

Roads were slushy and brown and crusted with ice. The few drivers who ventured out seemed to fall into two camps: prudent, slow, both hands clutching the steering wheel, or cock-sure four-wheel-drivers flying along, flinging snow in their wakes.

The snowfall muffled the sounds of the city, as if someone threw a blanket over the hustle and bustle for one work day.

Sled on what you can

Around Everett, children converged on every hill of any elevation with plastic sleds, snowboards and sometimes just a pair of snow pants.

A top of Rucker Hill, Terence Gettmann, 11, and his little brother Donovan, 8, had their own improvised sledding device.

Someone left out a blue, plastic kiddy pool.

"I just found it here," said Terence.

He did his best to scooch down a hill. When the pool didn't get moving fast enough, he went back to rocketing down the slope on his plastic sled.

At Howarth Park, a few neighbors had the playground to themselves. Dogs sprinted around the snowy landscape, biting at the flakes, plunging through the soft drifts and tugging loose snow-covered sticks.

Anna Winquist brought her two children, Erik, 5, and Sonja, 7, to swoosh down the steep hills on sleds. The children whooped and laughed as they ventured further up the hill before launching off. Their cheeks were bright apple red under their snow caps.

"This to me is what snow in the city is all about," she said.

Sleepy day at work

Many Everett businesses closed up shop Wednesday. It was hard to divine a pattern: a tanning salon open, a coffee hut closed, a pawn shop open, a Dairy Queen shut.

Not Ana Solorzano's taco truck. Her red trailer sat its usual spot at a gas station near 41st Street. In concession to the cold, she had the screen on the pass through, usually wide open, narrowed to a small slit.

"It's a little slower," she said. But people still were pulling up to buy tacos.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to get home later," she said.

Easy ferry crossing in Mukilteo

At the Mukilteo Ferry dock, the holding lanes were virtually empty. Along the waterfront, couples huddled in cars pulled up to the beach, watching steel-colored waves break onto snow-covered driftwood.

At a nearby parking lot, two Community Transit drivers knelt in the snow, numb fingers trying to coax chains onto the giant back tires of a bus.

"In 23 years, I've never had to chain up a bus," said Mark Terry, a driver.

Putting chains on a bus is about the same as getting them on a family sedan -- "but worse," he said.

Usually, a team from Community Transit is on hand at a park-and-ride, ready to slap on chains. Driver Gil Pehrson needed them right then to negotiate the steep hills.

He didn't see many people out.

"The storm was so bad people got the message and stayed home," he said.

South county hunkered down

Mountlake Terrace resident Veronica Jewell, an accounting major at Edmonds Community College, was out in the cold since her college was closed.

She waited in a covered bay at the Lynnwood Transit Center on 48th Ave. W. for a bus to take her to a friend's house so she could get help with her statistics class work.

"I'm freezing cold; I don't want to be out but I have to," said Jewell, 26. "The computer labs and tutoring center are all closed right now so the best luck I have are friends from high school who did really well (in statistics)."

The snow also made a trip into Seattle more difficult for Lynnwood resident Diana Landry, 37, who works as an information technology supervisor at the King County Courthouse. She originally planned to ride a bus to work from the Ash Way Park-and-Ride but changed her plans and drove to the transit center after she saw cars skidding out on 164th Street.

"I rerouted to make it here but the roads are really bad and anybody who does not have to be out on them I hope they are staying home," she said. "I feel a little guilty for being out on them myself."

Keneshia Phillips of Lynnwood brought her 4-year-old daughter Lajaya Myles, and her 10-year-old niece, Natavia Reynolds, along on a walk to buy groceries at Fred Meyer. They had about a block and a half to walk home from the store and then they could get warm again, said Phillips, 24.

"This is about as much as they're going to venture out," she said. "Maybe we'll build a snowman."

Empty businesses in south Everett

The businesses at Casino Plaza were almost empty, with a handful of workers clearing snow from the parking lot.

Maybe they shouldn't have because customers were walking to the stores instead of driving. Others were just enjoying the day with the family.

Alfonso Ortiz was doing both.

He was waiting for the bus near Casino Plaza at Casino Road near Evergreen Way with his wife and two kids. He thought the snow over the weekend was all the area was going to get.

"I thought it wasn't going to last this long," Ortiz, 32, said. "I am trying to make the best of it."

School workers on a snow day

Snowy roads weren't a concern for Peter Halfaker, a teacher at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Seattle, and his wife, Bridget, a teacher at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School. Schools were closed for the day in the Seattle and Edmonds school districts so they spent the morning walking in the snow near 196th Street SW.

"We had to get out in the snow and make some fresh tracks," said Peter Halfaker, 45. "These are the days when no one is out and it's just a lot quieter."

In Mukilteo, Jason and Dana Johnson went out for a walk and stopped off at the Mukilteo Post Office to pick up mail for her parents.

"They're in Palm Springs," she said, laughing.

Dana Johnson drives a school bus, so she had the day off.

"I'm always happy when they close school (during snowy weather), so I don't have to drive in it."

South Everett bus riders

At the Mariner Park and Ride in south Everett, fewer than 10 people were waiting for buses this morning. Only about 20 cars sat in the parking lot, each covered with several inches of snow

April Vigil was headed for work in Bothell. She used to live in Colorado, so she has seen more snow than this, Vigil said. Her only complaint was that traffic and buses were going slow.

"In a city that does not know how to handle the snow, things are going slow," Vigil, 23, said.

Tristan Johnson was on his way to visit his mother in Lynnwood. The 27-year old Everett man said he can't remember seeing this much snow, but he said it hasn't affected his routine because he doesn't drive.

"It could be worse," he said. "Buses could not be running."

Edmonds cross county skiers

People in Edmonds found other ways of getting where they needed to go.

Pam Stuller, 41, owns Walnut Street Coffee in downtown Edmonds, She strapped on cross country skis and headed into work early Wednesday morning from her home a couple miles away in Richmond Beach.

"You have to leave early enough that you beat the snow plows," Stuller said.

Peter White, who teaches English at Mountlake Terrace High School, had the same idea. He skied from his home in the Westgate area to Stuller's shop. His next stop was the beach.

"Just the idea that you can ski all the way to the beach is just so cool. I just had to do it," White said.

A couple of other skiers stopped off at the coffee shop to warm up and enjoy the scenery.

Sultan emergency crews

In the Sultan area, there was plenty of compact snow and ice, especially in higher country, Fire Chief Merlin Halverson said.

Still, Wednesday afternoon didn't feel as cold outside as predicted, he said.

City crews were keeping a close eye on Sultan Basin Road, Public Works Director Mick Matheson said.

"It's got some steep spots on it, so we've been battling the Sultan Basin Road since the get-go, and we spend a lot of time up there continuing to plow, continuing to sand, but we can't spend all of our efforts there," he said.

The city has only snow plow, but crews also were using a road grader and a backhoe, he said.

Herald reporters Amy Daybert, Rikki King, Alejandro Dominguez, Renee McCann, Noah Haglund, Bill Sheets and Gale Fiege contributed to this report.