(WSB photo of city-owned grader doing snow-removal work 12/23/08)
As discussed during the post-Snowpocalypse ’08 debriefings, the city has promised to get more snow-removal backup lined up for future use. (Here’s our coverage of the January 6th hearing in which SDOT boss Grace Crunican revealed how little private help they actually summoned last December.) Toward that end, the city is now officially seeking proposals, due April 14, for private, on-call, on-retainer snow-removal help. So what are they looking for? Thinking it might make interesting reading on this snowflake-dotted day, we pulled a few excerpts – read on (or just go here to see the whole document):Read More

Last time “possible snow” was mentioned fleetingly in the “forecast discussion,” this happened. (Was that really only A WEEK AGO?) So in the interest of “no surprises,” we’re noting that it’s mentioned fleetingly here in the regional overview for tomorrow:

ONCE AGAIN…PRECIP TYPE MAY BE TRICKY DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH LIGHT OFFSHORE FLOW…TEMPS IN THE LOWER 30S AND LOW SNOW LEVELS. COULD SEE LIGHT SNOW IN THE LOWLANDS…ESPECIALLY THE HOOD CANAL REGION.

Last year, we had a few brief bouts of spring snow, including one as late as April 19th (here’s the proof).

(December 22 WSB’er photo, California/Lander, looking west)
For an article published this morning, the Seattle Times launched “a review of about 2,000 records, including e-mails and detailed reports on how the city deployed equipment and crews” during the December snowstorms. The article starts off by calling attention to two SDOT managers who made what Times reporter Susan Kelleher calls “questionable decisions,” then provides a window into e-mail exchanges that seem to run counter to the stern tone of some of the official hearings (like this one) — Kelleher writes that Councilmember Sally Clark e-mailed SDOT boss Grace Crunican in January to say her West Seattle-residing colleague Tom Rasmussen was “out of line” in asking whether Crunican was in Seattle for the entirety of the storm (as reported here, she wasn’t), and Christmas e-mail from Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis to Crunican and one of her managers is quoted as saying “SDOT has been magnificent throughout these storms.” Ceis and Crunican also live in West Seattle, as of course does Mayor Nickels, and yet another part of the story says city workers spent more time clearing “sidewalks, landings, and bus stops” here than any other part of the city. Anyway, just go read the whole story.

(refresh/scroll down for new pix and info as we get it)

(photo added 5:10 pm, courtesy of Cathy Woo, taken south of Alki Point)
Starting to really kick up, so we’ll open this new post in case of any problems. Note that West Seattle’s brand-spanking-new emergency-preparedness website is up and running, too – including where to gather in case of major disaster. See it here. 45 mph gust at Alki Point according to the hourly readings from the National Weather Service (that station is K91S). Let us know if there’s trouble where you are. And even if the power goes out – if you can get online, you’ll find us here too, since we have power and Internet-service backups. Another potentially helpful link: Here’s the City Light outages list (none in our area right now).

ADDED 5:28 PM: Anne from Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) photographed this rainbow while in the Belvidere area just before the sun went back into hiding:

8:15 PM NOTE: We took a sunset/dusk drive around some of the major arterials. No obvious problems. Will be watching for another forecast update in an hour or so, to see if any other “surprises” are lurking later this week. There is a big tree down in South Park, though – got this photo from 8th S and Rose (map):

We’re told City Light is cutting up the tree now and that only a few homes lost power because of the downed tree.

9:58 PM UPDATE: Sustained wind has picked up again, but the new “forecast discussion” published at 9 pm still says things should calm down by midnight.

11:08 PM UPDATE: The official forecast itself updated at 11 pm. Now says wind “easing overnight,” but potentially gusting to 35 mph now and then in the meantime. Alki Point registered a 34 mph gust at the top of the hour.

11:35 PM NOTES: We also have two reports (comments and Twitter) of some snow mixed in with all this craziness, from Fairmount and High Point.

(replaced original photo with video from Upper Fauntleroy at 8:35 am)
Nothing should surprise us, given what’s happened so far this winter, but waking up to Winter Wonderland, Yet Again, is still a bit of a shock. Someone mentioned “snow?” on Twitter last night; we went to the forecast to look and all we saw was the chance of some gusty winds later today. But at least where we are – it’s blanketed, already. And you?

8:02 AM: The current forecast insists this will change to rain later – and then give way to a wind advisory, noon-11 pm. Send a photo if you have one! editor@westseattleblog.com

8:17 AM: Here come the photos – thanks! First, from Tony in High Point:

From Scott C near Myrtle Reservoir:

From King County on Twitter a moment ago:

Snow is spreading across King County, but Metro buses are still moving with little disruption. Will keep you posted if that changes

From Cathy Woo on Alki – snowing down at the lower levels too:

Reminder that if you need to drive somewhere, our Traffic page has a variety of camera views in West Seattle and on the routes leading onto/off the peninsula.

8:36 AM: Just added video to the top of this report, a shaky pan from the arterial intersection nearest WSB HQ (California/Thistle; map) for posterity’s sake and anyone who’s out of town … Remember that it did snow in LATE March last year. Now, more photos – this one from Todd in Admiral:

From Jodi in the 4000 block of Fauntleroy Way alongside the approach to The Bridge (and she reports traffic’s getting by just fine):

Via Facebook (where you can “friend” us as WS Blog), Talani reports it’s more like rain on Alki right now. Still snow here but smaller flakes, and there IS some on the road, so drive carefully if you have to go somewhere. Meantime, famous forecaster Cliff Mass explains the super-size flakes seen earlier:

The snow is full of large aggregates (many crystals stuck together)…that is why they are so large (the surfaces of the snowflakes are melitng and wet…and this acts as a sort of glue to allow them to stick to each other). This happens in marginal temp situations, like we have now.

Update on who DID forecast this: On FB, we have one report that Channel 5 did hint at this, and another that Cliff M mentioned the possibility in his Friday KUOW appearance.

9:04 AM: From Diana in North Admiral:

And on the flip side, Talani’s photo of Alki Ave out the window of the beachside Starbucks:

From JH near Schmitz Park:

Pretty sure that’s now the sound of some snowmelt in the downspout outside the nearest window … And yes, the street’s now wet with a little slush, and it’s more rain than snow. So at least your photos will be indisputable proof for anyone who’s sleeping late and might end up missing the whole thing!

9:22 AM: Via Twitter, Bridgette in the Avalon/Luna Park area reports a Comcast cable-TV outage. Anyone else? Meantime, the big flakes are back. Guess this will be off-on for a while.

9:31 AM: Kathleen just e-mailed from Highland Park and says that near Riverview Playfield, “no sign of rain” – still “tons of snow coming down.” (minutes later in Upper Fauntleroy, it’s 95% rain)

9:55 AM: Unless you’re in a micro-microclimate pocket and seeing otherwise, looks like the snow event is mostly over. But remember that there’s another round of wild weather predicted for later today – a wind advisory around the metro area, noon-11 pm – forecast excerpt:

SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH THIS AFTERNOON.

But in the meantime, the more-typical weather has arrived just in time for the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (now till 2 pm in The Junction). And the first government news release has arrived too – King County’s overview.

(newest image from the city’s “live” cam on The Bridge, looking east)
At least, that’s what this morning’s forecast says. It did get into the 20s, so you might have some scraping to do this morning if you park on the street. No city road/bus trouble; check the “latest incidents” links on our Traffic page if you want to make sure all’s well before you leave.

(Photo by Brian Presser – Junction construction worker during midday snow shower today)
The chance of snow showers is supposed to run out soon, according to the latest forecast, but the big weather news will be VERY cold overnight lows – 20s tonight, maybe even into the teens tomorrow. ADDED EARLY TUESDAY AM: An ode to this endless winter, by West Seattle poet Carol Smith – read on!Read More

(new info and photos added below as the afternoon goes on)

Hailing now – the ground is covered. The weather folks say the next round of nasty weather is moving southward toward us – and it’s been seriously wintry up north, as evidenced by this photo Scott C just sent from his workplace in Everett:

1:08 PM: Hailstorm’s over. For now. As noted in a comment on our morning weather post, the afternoon is expected to be unpredictable too; the assessment from Cliff Mass — “If it is going to snow significantly in Seattle … it will be later this afternoon …” Also just in – thanks to Sharonn Meeks for an amazing photographic look from downtown as the storm moved in:

And here’s a few seconds of video from when the hail was falling here:

1:41 PM: Snowing now. Wish we had a time-lapse camera just rolling on the whole day.

2:26 PM: Traffic alert that may or may not be weather related – Sylvan Way through High Point is currently closed at SW Holly, near Forest Lawn (map) – we haven’t heard back from police yet but a nice person at FL tells us it appears to be some kind of accident; nothing on 911 log so we can only hope that means no medics because no injuries.

3:01 PM UPDATE: Police say it’s a jackknifed semi. We’re headed over to check the status of the scene. Meantime, OUTSIDE West Seattle but possibly affecting your commute, Metro is starting to report some bus trouble on the Eastside as well as “hilly areas” in Rainier Beach; here’s the “adverse weather” page.

3:16 PM UPDATE: The truck (photo above) has been pulled off to the side of the road – traffic’s been getting around, albeit slowly. One more update to share: Elementary and middle-school afterschool activities have been canceled for this afternoon/tonight throughout Seattle Public Schools (per schoolreport.org).

4 PM NOTE: Just mentioned this in comments – our Traffic page doesn’t just have the West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras, it also includes two links you can use to check for traffic incidents around the metro area – one goes to Traffic.com’s “latest incidents” for the Seattle area, the other goes to the WSDOT Twitter bulletins about the Seattle area. Both are at the top of this page.

(refresh/scroll down for the newest updates)

(video added 9:18 am from outside WSB HQ)
FIRST REPORT, 8:30 AM: Just switched from rain to snow here in Upper Fauntleroy. Forecast links etc. to come. Photos, road reports., etc., very much appreciated as the day goes on if this continues – editor@westseattleblog.com and, if you’re not by a computer at some point, be sure to have 206-293-6302 handy. First photo in from Holly in Seaview:

Pamela from Nico and Zoe Toys shares this photo from upper Morgan Junction:

8:53 AM NOTES: As pointed out here the other day, we had late-March snow last year, so this is not so unusual. We wanted to note that there are MANY MANY MANY activities scheduled around West Seattle today, indoor and outdoor (here’s the direct link to the Saturday list on our West Seattle Weekend Lineup), and if any plans change because of the weather, please e-mail/call us so we can announce that here. One of today’s biggest non-entertainment events is the California Place Park design workshop at Alki Community Center, 10:30-noon, and tonight’s highlights include the first Winter Movies on the Wall showing, “The Mummy,” 7 pm at West Seattle Christian Church’s new activity center (doors open 5:30 pm, BYOC[hairs]).

9:04 AM: National Weather Service still says “accumulation” not expected to pass an inch, but “snow showers” are still in the forecast off and on for the next few days. Meantime, remember that as reported here late yesterday, King County promises to use Twitter and a blog-format site to get the word out about any Metro trouble – and just reported this:

We aren’t yet seeing any impacts to transit or roads in King County due to snow but we’ll let you know if it happens

You don’t have to sign up for Twitter to check updates online, as long as you have the direct link – for example, we’re at twitter.com/westseattleblog and King County is tweeting bus updates at twitter.com/kcnews. (Our latest Twitter update also appears in a box that’s in the lower section of the WSB sidebar.) We’re also on Facebook (as WS Blog), where someone just dubbed this round of snow “March Madness”! Funny, Cliff Mass posted half an hour before the snow started that it was still too warm for snow at sea level.

9:27 AM UPDATE: Roads are still bare/wet even up here (300′ or so). From Gatewood, NerdsEyeView author Pam sends this photo (frosted duck decoy):

If you need to check The Bridge and other key roads before heading out, remember the WSB Traffic page has cams and a link to area “traffic incidents” – go here.

9:58 AM UPDATE: We’re off to Alki for the park meeting, will report on any notable weather sightings along the way, but it’s REALLY lightened up here – likely to be off-on for a long time to come.

10:33 AM: Between Fauntleroy and Alki, barely a sign of snow. Even on big grassy areas like Alki Playfield (photo taken about 10 minutes ago):