Snowy surprise: a long drive home
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2007
EVERETT – It was a heavy, wet nightmare. Wednesday started with snow flurries in south Snohomish County.
Then it got worse.
The day ended with nearly 5 inches of snow in little more than an hour, slamming Everett and Mukilteo with slush, slippery roads and downtown traffic jams.
In the battle between the afternoon commute and the convergence zone, the convergence zone won.
Again.
“We had a slushy standstill,” said Kate Reardon, city of Everett spokeswoman. “Basically, everything was frozen, from the traffic standpoint, from stuff coming from the sky.”
Everett reported 60 fender benders between 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., when snow fell the heaviest. Ferry service in Mukilteo was delayed by cars trying to get a grip while getting off the ferry.
Just about 10 miles away, in Edmonds, there was just a little snow and no unusual traffic.
“Remember that it’s still wintertime,” said trooper Kirk Rudeen, a State Patrol spokesman. “Things can change in an instant.”
Temperatures were expected to be near freezing overnight, and drivers were urged to watch for patches of black ice on the roads this morning.
“We expect temperatures to drop in the early morning, so drivers should be prepared for ice during the morning commute,” said Meghan Soptich, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
The National Weather Service in Seattle predicted a chance of snow this morning.
“This could cause some problems, and people should be cautious when they drive in (Thursday),” weather service meteorologist Johnny Burg said.
Rain is forecast through the weekend with temperatures predicted into the 50s by Saturday.
KIRO-TV chief meteorologist Andy Wappler called the snowstorm that socked Everett and central Snohomish County a perfect convergence-zone storm.
“The key in this case is we’ve had very strong winds out of the south that come up through the sound,” Wappler said. “They are meeting strong winds coming right through the Strait of Juan de Fuca out of the Northwest. The meeting point is literally Everett.”
And so while Seattle and Bellingham were sunny Wednesday afternoon, a snowstorm was parked over Everett all afternoon and wasn’t expected to move on until well into the evening, Wappler said.
Until the weather breaks, Rudeen wanted to make sure drivers remembered the winter basics to keep themselves and others safe: Slow down, and keep extra distance between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you.
Wednesday morning there were so many spinouts, fender benders and cars in the ditch on Highway 9 that the Washington State Patrol was forced to close the road south of Snohomish for about 90 minutes.
Weather was blamed for a head-on collision on U.S. 2 near Index on Wednesday afternoon that sent a Kingston woman, 68, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries, Rudeen said.
Three other people were taken to area hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.
A Community Transit bus hit a truck and a car on the northbound I-5 ramp to U.S. 2 about 8:30 p.m., contributing to a backup on northbound I-5 that stretched from 128th Street SE in Everett to Smokey Point, Rudeen said. The backup was expected to last until at least 10 p.m.
No major injuries were reported in the accident, he said.
By late afternoon, Everett streets were packed, with four-block crawls taking a half-hour or more as the city asked people to stay home so they could get the streets plowed.
Downtown streets smelled of burning rubber and were filled with the sounds of spinning tires trying to scoot up hills.
Rachel Chapman of Snohomish lost control of her small truck while trying to get to Providence Everett Medical Center.
As if in slow motion, she first slid backward into a curb on W. Marine View Drive. She then managed to back around the corner onto California Street, but her little truck couldn’t hang onto the hill and slid backward for half a block.
“We were trying to go up the hill and we couldn’t,” she said. She said she fought and fought, but finally gave up. “We just went with it.”
John Forde of Everett avoided getting a case of the spinouts by leaving his car at home. Instead he whisked his way in and out of traffic on a pair of beat-up cross-country skis.
“I bring them out every time we get a couple of inches,” Forde said.
Wednesday’s snowfall was a reminder of the late November storms that created traffic headaches on highways in the Puget Sound area when road crews failed to put down enough deicer.
As many as 200 state Department of Transportation plows and deicing trucks were expected to be out fighting the foul weather late into the night, said Travis Phelps, a department spokesman.
The state had 17 trucks working in Snohomish County.
“We’re prepared for snow and ice tonight,” Phelps said Wednesday afternoon. The plan was to put down plenty of deicer before the start of this morning’s commute, he said.
From Paine Field to Granite Falls, Snohomish County had 24 snowplows out clearing county roads Wednesday evening.
At the Home Depot in south Everett, piles of sand and deicer were available for customers.
On Wednesday morning, salesman Greg Rogers stepped outside the store to throw a snowball in the parking lot.
“I love snow. I’m from Alaska; this is great,” he said.
A bomb threat at the county courthouse just before 1 p.m. forced about 1,500 people to stand outside in a cold mix of snow, sleet and hail in downtown Everett.
Huddled under an awning, one county worker said, “it’s cold, and it’s frustrating.”
After about an hour, courthouse marshals determined it was safe to reopen the building, Goetz said.
Hot chocolate was a best seller at the Java Jitters espresso stand on Highway 99 near Lynnwood Wednesday, barista Michelle McConnell said.
McConnell said she was ready for warmer weather.
“I’m ready for summer,” she said. “I already bought a new swimsuit and then it snowed the next day. Maybe I jinxed us?
“Stupid weather.”
Herald writers David Chircop and Jeff Switzer contributed to this report.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
