Another week in white

Published 11:23 am Friday, December 19, 2008

Irving Berlin’s vision of a white Christmas is beginning to look like it might come true in Snohomish County this year.

Snow continued to fall Thursday and more is forecast. Another storm is expected to hit the region again Sunday; one more is lined up for Christmas Eve.

It’s too early to tell how much snow may fall, but with subfreezing temperatures persisting, it will take a real warm up to quickly melt Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” dream.

“As long as you don’t get a whole lot of rain to wash that away, the chances are you’ll have some snow on the ground for Christmas,” said Bob Smerbeck, a senior meteorologist with Accuweather.com. “I’d say the odds are favoring.”

Wednesday’s traffic troubles and school closures continued Thursday.

The Washington State Patrol responded to dozens of accidents. By midafternoon, there were no serious injuries, trooper Keith Leary said.

Troopers responded to 45 collisions on state roads from the south Snohomish County line to the Canadian border just between midnight and 3 p.m. Thursday. Nobody was seriously hurt.

“Our goal is to let drivers know the roads are still very poor with compact snow and ice,” he said.

“People who were involved in these collisions were simply driving too fast for the conditions of the road.” Drivers who end up in a ditch face a $175 ticket and a tow bill, Leary said.

Traffic volumes through the county were mostly light, as many people heeded warning to stay off the roads.

Snow Thursday pummeled South Snohomish County and King County, areas that were mostly spared problems the day before.

Forecasters fear the this morning’s commute could be icy. Overnight temperatures were expected to fall into the 20s. The best advice for drivers: Take it slow and keep plenty of space between vehicles, Leary said.

Schools in Snohomish County were closed Thursday for a second consecutive day. Officials in Marysville and Mukilteo already have announced there will be no classes Friday. Officials at many other districts expected to wait until early this morning to decide to keep schools closed, reopen or start late.

After the holiday vacation, school districts will have to figure out how to make up the missed days.

In Arlington on Thursday, where up to two feet of snow had accumulated, road crews were operating on a 24-hour schedule in an effort to clean things up, city spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said.

Plows and sand trucks continued to focus on primary routes to allow emergency vehicles to get around. As time permits, secondary routes also will be plowed, she said.

On Camano Island, there was plenty of sand for the roads, but Island County road crews were fighting to keep up with the falling snow.

Slush and snow cover much of U.S. 2 between Snohomish and Stevens Pass. Visibility was low and traffic was crawling along Thursday afternoon.

The section of the highway through Monroe seemed to be in the worst condition, with traffic moving at 15 mph at points. The portion of the highway closest to Everett was in much better condition.

Throughout the day, plows moved up and down the highway, clearing snow and dropping sand.

Most major roads were passable in Snohomish County but many side streets still were choked with snow, said Roy Scalf, the county’s director of road maintenance.

“We’ve got all of our crews and all of our sanders working around the clock,” he said. “We’re trying to plow everything we possibly can while it’s still wet.”

Once the roads freeze, crews will spread sand and de-icer, he said. It could take a couple of days for crews to reach every street.

“Please be patient,” he said.

Patience — or perhaps time for procrastinating — will be running short for holiday shoppers.

People who planned to go shopping this weekend could be grappling with more bad weather.

Forecasters predict a lull in the snow today and Saturday morning. Then it could start to snow again, Smerbeck said.

Most Christmas holidays in the Puget Sound area are not white, weather expert Clifford Mass said. This year could beat the odds.

Another storm is expected to hit Christmas Eve.

Forecasters say it is still too early to know whether there will be rain — or snow.

Herald writer Gale Fiege and Kaitlin Manry contributed to this report.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com