The cold front is just getting warmed up.
Snow and bitter cold temperatures remain in the forecast through Wednesday, Christmas Eve.
As much as half a foot of snow that began falling in the early morning accumulated near Arlington, Stanwood and Silvana by Wednesday afternoon, forcing some people to abandon their vehicles in roadside ditches.
Snow in north Snohomish County was expected to continue until late this morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The Washington State Patrol responded to 62 collisions in Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Whatcom counties from about 3 a.m. until just before 3 p.m., trooper Keith Leary said.
There were three minor injury collisions on I-5 and state routes, he said. There were dozens more minor collisions on side streets and arterials.
“We are urging drivers to take precautions and limit trips in the heavy snow-affected areas,” Leary said. “The majority of our collisions have been due to drivers not slowing down, making sudden lane changes or hitting the brakes or gas too hard.”
Snow stalled the evening commute Wednesday throughout much of Snohomish County.
The rush hour stretched past 7 p.m. partly because many commuters hit the roads later, hoping to wait out the snow, Leary said. A minor collision on southbound I-405 at SR 527 blocked two lanes just after 7 p.m. and brought already crawling traffic to a halt, Leary said.
In Arlington and Silvana, snow completely blanketed most roads Wednesday.
Several semitrucks decided it was time to put on chains about 8:15 p.m. and stopped in the middle of I-5, blocking all northbound lanes at Exit 210, Washington State Patrol reported.
Other drivers abandoned their cars, and even four-wheel-drive trucks were spinning out. Reminders of the treacherous driving conditions included a jackknifed semi and trailer on the shoulder of I-5 in Stanwood and a car knocking over a fire hydrant in downtown Marysville on Wednesday morning.
Jimmy White abandoned his Honda Civic on 236th Street NW in rural Stanwood. He tried to drive to work at a Seattle Barnes &Noble store in the morning but turned back when he realized the roads around his parents’ house, where he spent the night, hadn’t been plowed. He tried again later in the morning and skidded down a hill into a slight ditch.
“I kept thinking, ‘They’ll plow this road,’” he said, standing by his car, waiting for a tow truck. “I came down here and slid … five minutes later the plow came by. It kind of sucks.”
The storm was forecast to drop several inches of snow before tapering off today. Temperatures were headed toward freezing by sunset. They are expected to plunge lower, into the teens, by Friday.
Seattle Premium Outlets on Wednesday closed at 6 instead of 9 p.m., according to the mall’s Web site.
Most Snohomish County schools were closed. Only Darrington, which is used to snowy conditions, held classes two hours late.
In Marysville, road crews were out by 3:30 a.m. Wednesday spreading sand on key stretches of roadway in the 120-mile network the city maintains. They started on the arterials, such as Highway 528 and Grove Street along Getchell Hill, and expanded to collector routes that lead to the thoroughfares.
In 12-hour shifts, road crews expect to spread 400 tons of sand on Marysville roads by the end of today.
County crews operated 15 snowplows in northern areas and 18 snowplows in southern and eastern areas, concentrating mostly east of U.S. 2. State road crews have been working to keep the highways clear.
The cold snap has been leading people to turn up their thermostats.
On Monday evening, for instance, electricity consumption by Snohomish County PUD customers was nearly 50 percent more than on a typical winter day. The peak period neared a record set during a stretch of freezing weather in December 1990, said Neil Neroutsos, a PUD spokesman.
“We have lined up supplies to cover the increased demand, but it’s always a good idea for people to conserve where they can,” Neroutsos said. “It reduces the bill but it also means we don’t have to go out and get additional power in the open market at a higher cost.”
While the snow created hardships for motorists and swelled PUD bills, it was welcomed in some quarters.
Stevens Pass will open to skiing and snowboarding today, the third-latest starting date in the past 22 years.
“We are really looking forward to it,” said Christopher Rudolph, marketing director at Stevens Pass. “We are looking at around 3,000 people on the hill (today). That’s a very good number for a weekday. I think there is a lot of pent-up demand out there.”
In Arlington, sisters Brenna and Kara Kampii went to bed Tuesday night hoping to wake up and find a dusting of snow. They were thrilled to instead find their neighborhood covered in white.
On Wednesday afternoon they joined in a neighborhood snowball fight and planned to go sledding later in the day.
“It’s fun to play in because it’s fun to throw snowballs,” Brenna, 13, said, dodging a ball. “It’s the perfect kind of snow to make snowballs.”
Daryl Griffith spent his morning cruising over white streets in a souped-up Ford truck with 35-inch wheels. He lives on a hill in Arlington and wanted to see how other areas were dealing with the snow, so he headed out.
Griffith said he didn’t have any problems but saw plenty of people sliding.
“I trust my ability to drive,” he said, waiting for a tow truck to move another pickup truck that skidded off the road in Silvana. “I don’t, of course, trust other people.”
Josh Layton, 17, and Bobby Grimm, 20, spent their day driving a canary yellow racing quad through snowy Silvana streets. They’re not supposed to drive on the road, but since snow blanketed all streets in the area, they didn’t think anyone would mind.
Layton, a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, was glad to have a day off school but was disappointed that his teachers realized snow was coming and on Tuesday assigned extra homework.
“I’ve already got accepted to Wazzu (Washington State University) and it’s like this over there,” he said, sitting on the back of quad. “It’s fun to play in the snow instead of the rain every once in a while. The snow is way better than the rain.”
Reporter Katya Yefimova contributed to this report.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.
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