(scroll/refresh for the latest updates; AND for a list of handy links and closed/open reports, CLICK HERE)
(photo courtesy Amy, looking east/uphill on Thistle from Delridge)
It’s time to kick off the evening coverage, with a special focus on what we learn about planning for tomorrow – it may be school break, but a lot of folks are going to have to try to get to work tomorrow, so we’ll do what we can to help, with the latest news — including info from YOU, in the comments or via e-mail (editor@westseattleblog.com) – if you’re away from a computer and have something to share, call us 24/7 at 206-293-6302. First update: Some have asked when Metro will put up its information for tomorrow here. Metro’s very helpful and proactive Linda Thielke e-mailed WSB to explain:
We don’t want to update the snow & ice page until about 4 am Monday, because we still have Sunday service out on the road. If we were to put Monday’s service info online tonight, it would really confuse people. Anyone planning to ride Metro on Monday morning should check the site and then check again just before they need to leave home, because road conditions are changing rapidly.
Our Monday live updates will start by 5 am, by the way, to help with the morning commute. But in the meantime, we’re here for many more hours. Also note our new post with quick info-links and also known closures/who’s-open (like who’s delivering pizza tonight); that’s not meant to REPLACE discussion here, but a place to record what comes up here for your quick reference.
7:24 PM UPDATE: Just in from Josh Sutton of the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor):
MONDAY: West Seattle Y Facility open at normal time
Fauntleroy Y Facility open at normal time
YMCA Licensed Child Care
Programs at Cooper, Concord & Arbor Heights Elementary are closed.
School Age Kids from all licensed Y programs can go to WS Elementary (High Point), open at 9am.
Preschool Kids from all licensed Y programs can go to WS YMCA PSCC, open at 8:30am.Check website at westseattleymca.org anytime for more updates.
King County has just posted a running list of its open/closed info – here it is; also adding to the aforementioned links page.
7:36 PM UPDATE: More on the power-outage warning we posted at the end of the afternoon coverage – Now WSDOT has noted via Twitter that there’s word of some outages in Kitsap. No Seattle outages noted yet, but again, have your flashlight/etc. ready. This time, it’s not wind, but heavy snow taking out branches/lines, etc.
From Ingrid: “Happy first night of Hanukkah to the West Seattle Jews!” Indeed.
8 PM UPDATE: From Big Red at 29th/Thistle, side by side comparisons of how much snow has fallen in the past several hours – 3:30 pm at left, 7:30 pm at right:
Thinking about escaping to California? L.A.’s expecting a storm too. Tame compared to ours.
SEE THE REST OF OUR AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE FROM THIS NIGHT BY CLICKING AHEAD:
8:25 PM UPDATE: E-mailed by Tish:
I just learned that my 11:40 a.m. flight out of Sea-Tac tomorrow was canceled. When I try to call Alaska Air to book a new reservation, I get nothing but a busy signal, so I’m guessing a lot of people are trying to rebook their flight right now. If anyone else in West Seattle is planning to fly out tomorrow, they should definitely check their flight status online before heading out.
Alaska’s website reiterates that all remaining flights for today out of Seattle AND Portland (which also is hit hard) are canceled. We have a Sea-Tac webcam in the right sidebar TFN, by the way.
9:05 PM UPDATE: Junior Member and your editor are just back from a half-hour research walk down the block. From the top of the Thistle/Northrop staircase, you can hear so many snowmobiles roaring down the hill somewhere (Brace Point? Barton?) that it sounds like a raceway. If you watch the snow under a streetlight, but not looking directly AT the streetlight, it sparkles as it falls. If you stomp on an obviously untouched snow pile – say, a parking strip – honestly, it seems to be nearly a foot deep. Same for the snow in the middle of undriven side streets – this is different from last week, and there’s still the “creme brulee” layer of ice a few inches down. Meantime, King County has issued its latest road alert. And Giannoni’s Pizzeria in Westwood Village says it’s had a huge weekend and just sent an advisory about its hours – Donna Burns from Giannoni’s e-mailed:
We would like to extend a huge thanks to our West Seattle Community and Giannoni’s
fans for making this weekend – which could have gone either way – our biggest weekend to date. People stayed around their neighborhood and patronized community businesses. We stayed open until 8 tonight and really felt appreciated!We will be open Monday, Tuesday normal hours (11am – 9pm)
Wednesday until 6 (Following Target’s schedule)
Thursday closed
Friday and beyond, normal hours (11 – 10 F, 11:30 – 10 Sat, 11:30 – 9 Sun)
A shorter version of that will be on the open/closed/link list.
9:23 PM UPDATE: Newest “forecast discussion” posted by National Weather Service. Says another band of snow showers coming in around 11 pm. Another? This one hasn’t stopped yet!
9:40 PM UPDATE: Before the night’s out, we’ll be interspersing some nice pix not used earlier – this one from Meighen:
And from Shelley:
Good line from WSB sponsor Rhonda Porter (mortgageporter.com) via Twitter: “I feel like I’m stuck in a snow globe and I can’t get out!”
9:56 PM UPDATE: From Claire in Seaview: “We are on Juneau & 47th…power lines were snapping with blue electrical explosions. Just so you know (in case we lose power). Still have power now.” WSDOT just sent this ferry update via Twitter:
We could see reduced service on all ferry routes beginning this evening and Mon. Possible one boat service on all WSF ferry routes
Thanks to Mary for e-mailing that Superior Court is closed again tomorrow; that’s one of the closures listed on the King County list which is among the links on our open/closed/links page, which we will continue updating tonight and tomorrow (and as long as this all lasts).
10:26 PM: Remember the Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”? That title is evoked by this shot Dustin got, looking down Seola Beach Drive (map):
And miles to go before I sleep.
10:36 PM: Speaking of sleeping, Ryan has had ATVers interfering with his family’s sleep, and he’s pretty much had it – from his e-mail:
Enough with the ATVs!!! Idiots riding ATVs until 2am last night on residential streets around Charlestown and 44th. They’re at it again tonight. I’m all for people having some fun, but not when it wakes my 3 mo baby up every time they race by. Enough is enough. It’s illegal to ride them on the streets, period. It’s also against the noise ordinance to be making that much noise after 11pm. If you see/hear these idiots, call the cops.
We’ve heard police calls to that vicinity (the steep hill west of California) in recent nights but apparently the ATVers are undeterred. Now, to Delridge/Holden (map), where Patrick M took this photo looking west up the Holden hill:
11:14 PM UPDATE: TV, running through some previous snowtastrophes in Seattle, mentioned 14″ of snow in December 1990, 12″ in December 1996 (we remember that post-Christmas storm well), but nothing like the alltime record-setting month … more than 50 inches in January 1950. Here’s a HistoryLink.org article about it.
11:37 PM UPDATE: Just checked the Sound Transit alerts page (which is linked to our links/open/closed post), and there’s this alert for tomorrow: “ST Express Route 560 will operate on Monday with no service to West Seattle.” Also, Peggy just forwarded a note that the University of Washington has “suspended operations” for Monday for Seattle, as well as Bothell and Tacoma. Apparently, this is EXTREMELY rare.
11:51 PM UPDATE: Some more pix … first, Charles Whelan sent this one with a warning “While walking around taking in the beautiful winter wonderland scenes, please watch out for precarious icicles! This one is in the parking lot of Westwood Court Apts on Trenton,” and he notes its mate apparently already fell. The daytime icicle photo that follows was sent to us earlier today, but we’re having trouble matching it with its photographer … we set it aside for future use.
And from Marybeth Coghill, beautiful shots from around West Seattle on this snowy night – these two, focusing on trees:
Marybeth’s full gallery on Flickr can be seen here.
12:37 AM UPDATE: Just in as a comment on an old crime post, from “A Westwood Neighbor”:
The chains were just stolen off our Camry parked at Kenyon & 34th… around 11 pm
12:56 AM UPDATE: So as not to end the night’s updates (barring breaking news) on a down note, here’s the latest cute kid picture – from Shelley:
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