LYNNWOOD — One woman is confirmed to have died in one of the coldest storms in Snohomish County history, authorities said.
On Dec. 21, the woman, 76, was reportedly found in a parked car in the Walmart parking lot at 17222 Highway 99. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Friday the woman died of environmental hypothermia.
The Walmart is just a mile away from the cold weather shelter at Maple Park Lutheran Church at 17620 60th Avenue West.
“That is so close,” said Lisa Utter, chair of that shelter’s board. “That is tragic.”
During the first of two winter storms that brought snow to Snohomish County last month, Utter told The Daily Herald that the shelter had been near the 23-bed capacity most nights. The county’s cold weather shelters generally open when low temperatures are forecast to be below 34 degrees.
On Dec. 21, the high only reached 25 in Lynnwood, according to Weather Underground. The low dropped to below 16 that night. The day before, the low was 29.
The shelter hosted upward of 30 guests Dec. 21, Utter said Tuesday. A few days later, there were 40 people there. A second person was also found dead due to the cold just days later, Utter said, though the official cause had not been confirmed by the medical examiner’s office as of Tuesday.
As need increased, the shelter had to open up more spaces to expand capacity. It hasn’t turned anyone away due to space constraints this season, Utter said.
Those most at risk for hypothermia include older adults with inadequate food, clothing and heating, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other at-risk groups include babies in cold rooms and individuals who remain outdoors for long periods of time, like unsheltered people or hikers.
When someone is exposed to the cold, their body begins to lose heat faster than they can produce it, according to the CDC. A lengthy exposure will eventually use up the energy their body stores, lowering body temperature. When that happens, it affects the brain, making it hard to think clearly or move easily. That means a person may not be able to do anything about their condition.
Hypothermia occurs when a person’s body temperature drops below 95 degrees.
When people arrive at the Lynnwood church, they get screened for COVID. That includes a temperature check, Utter said. One person has come with a 90-degree temperature. Another at around 94 degrees. When that happens, staff wrap guests with blankets and give them hot liquids.
On the night of Dec. 21, an estimated 169 people were sheltered across the county’s cold weather facilities in Lynnwood, Everett, Snohomish, Monroe and Marysville, said Tyler Verda, human services program planner for the county.
The extreme weather can be dangerous.
“This has been a cold winter so far and we are concerned about what happens if that continues,” Utter said.
In the summer of 2021, which included a dreadful heat wave, 157 people died across Washington. Of those, 15 were in Snohomish County.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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