While drivers struggle, kids romp in the snow

EVERETT — Snohomish County was spinout city on Friday morning after two inches of snow fell before dawn.

Local police reported dozens of collisions on highways, city streets and county roads. The snow turned to slush as the day wore on.

Most folks did fine driving if they took it slow, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.

Stanwood was hardest hit, with 4.5 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Most other places in the county got 1 to 2 inches.

No serious-injury collisions were reported from the snow. The weekend weather is predicted to be cloudy and rainy, with drier, warmer conditions in time for Christmas, said meteorologist Johnny Burg. It could be cold at night, though, he said, but nothing like the recent freeze.

In Snohomish County on Friday, the Washington State Patrol counted more than 109 collisions, mostly spinouts, between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m., said trooper Inci Yarkut.

Before 7 a.m., westbound U.S. 2 was backed up from the trestle nearly to Highway 9 in Snohomish, she said.

The sheriff’s office had reports of nearly two dozen accidents before 7 a.m., Ireton said. At least one rollover happened near Stanwood. Many of the incidents were cars crashing into trees, fences and ditches, Ireton said.

In Everett, police had to close roads on the hill at 41st Street and Colby Avenue for awhile, spokesman Aaron Snell said. The hill was sanded and reopened by 8:30 a.m.

The weather brought one of the rarest occurrences on Snohomish County school calendars: a snow day.

Schools were closed across Snohomish and Island counties, including Everett, Edmonds, Marysville, Mukilteo, Snohomish, Monroe, Lake Stevens, Lakewood, Arlington and Granite Falls. The same was true in Oak Harbor, Coupeville and South Whidbey.

The last significant local snowfall was in January 2012, according to the Weather Service.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449, rking@heraldnet.com.

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