Now the melting begins.
Warmer weather began spreading north through Western Washington on Jan. 20 with temperatures at daybreak inching toward the 40s. Compact snow and ice still awaited drivers on area roads for the morning commute.
“There are just a few pockets of cold air left,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Colman said.
Once an area sees rain, it should not get any more snow, he said.
If temperatures rise too fast, the chance of flooding in neighborhoods and small streams will increase, he said. As a precaution, the weather service on Jan. 20 issued a flood watch for much of Western Washington.
“It’s going to be pretty sloppy out there,” Colman said.
The added weight of rain on snow-and-ice covered branches triggered more power outages. As of 8:30 a.m., about 17,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, Snohomish County PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.
Particularly hard hit are neighborhoods around Clearview, Snohomish and Monroe.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix for getting everyone up and running,” Neroutsos said.
The morning of Jan. 20, much of south Everett was still in bad shape. Neighborhoods were snowy, and arterials were slushy. Light rain played hide-and-seek.
Traffic on I-5 was moving a little faster than in the past few days, but not by much. Every few miles, some sort of car was stuck in a drift, ditch or hillside.
Classes at all area schools and colleges were canceled Jan. 20.
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