Stories

King County did an excellent job clearing the intersection of 23rd Ave S & Jackson. 

If you're planning to drive to work today, we'll start by telling you not to. Our commuting plan to downtown today includes a lot of walking, and bundling up since it's about a 40 minute trip in snow for any point west of 23rd Avenue.

But if you insist on driving, be prepared with the city's 2010 Winter Weather Map:

It shows that Jackson Street west of 23rd is the only street that is guaranteed to be bare and wet at all times (we haven't made it over there to verify if that is the case).

23rd Avenue is a Level 2 roadway, where supposedly one lane in each direction will be bare and wet. We have checked that out and it appears to be close to its goal. A northbound lane is slushy with pavement visible, and southbound is a bit worse but cars are making it fine on the flat stretches we've seen.

We recommend avoiding all other hilly roadways such as Union and Cherry until more is known about the current conditions. 

And of course it may be very difficult to even reach a plowed roadway from your... (more)

The snow that fell throughout yesterday has turned into ice as overnight temperatures hovered in the lower 20s.

Metro has been doing a pretty good job of sending out updates as the conditions have affected their service. They've been warning repeatedly that some routes may be cancelled today due to inaccessible hills and other blockages along their routes, and is "urging people to stay home and off the roads if at all possible."

Here's the updates right now for the Central District:

• Route 48 is rerouted via 10th Ave E. and the University bridge, no longer serving Montlake or any of the stops along the hill on 24th Ave E.
• Route 8 is not serving MLK or Madison St. stops, and is instead running on Broadway to Jackson.
• Route 2 is following the route 3 snow route via Jackson, Broadway, Jefferson, and Cherry, with no service on Union. Additionally, it is stopping at 34th Avenue and not going downhill to the lake on Madrona drive.
• Route 3 & 4 will still be running their snow routes via Jefferson, Broadway,...

We just looked out from CDNews World HQ and saw several white flakes of snow beginning to fall from the gray sky above. The temperature is still hovering around 38F, which seems to make it unlikely that any snow will stick.

Weather blogger Cliff Mass says that the rain shadow of the Olympics will prevent any large accumulations here in the city today, but that a stronger disturbance expected tomorrow could increase our chances for measurable snowfall.

Stay tuned, and reminisce back to 2009 when we were stuck in the neighborhood for days due to ice and snow that stuck around for much longer than usual.

Last month we posted a photo comparison that showed spring was about 3 weeks early compared to 2009. A commenter asked to redo the comparison on April 9th, when the original photo was taken. We couldn't make it on the 9th, but here's the comparison from today, April 11th.

Vs one year ago:

I'm pretty sure that if we write about the possibility of a big storm, it will probably end up fizzling out. But we trust weather blogger Cliff Mass, so we'll raise the warning flag anyway:

An unusually strong spring storm is approaching and will hit tomorrow. It could end up being the strongest winds in several months for the Northwest lowlands. And we have the added complication of some trees starting to leaf out--which makes them more vulnerable to a strong blow. ...

The largest pressure gradient and strongest winds will be later in the afternoon...not the morning...for Seattle and vicinity. What kind of winds? Would not be surprised to see 40-60 kts over Puget Sound and 20-40 kts over land. Expect some power outages.

See Cliff's site for pretty colored maps and more details.

We'll have our CDNews Storm Trackers Team (tm) ready to go and will keep you up to date if it does hit.

And we can always use your help too. If you have problems like a power outage, fallen trees, or other issues, email us at tips@centraldistrictnews.com, tweet us @cdnews, or call the CDNewsDesk(tm) at 206-926-3537. Then we can track the issue and help communicate repair estimates out to the neighborhood.

Here's the culprit behind the disruption of the #27 bus. An alder tree has fallen across Lake Dell Ave up near the top of the hill from the steep embankment east of Leschi Elementary.

City crews are now on the scene, preparing to remove it, but you should expect the closure to last through the morning.

The tree also took down some phone and electric wires, so appears that some of the neighbors on this side of the hill will be without service.

We saw one pedestrian who allowed to get across on the east side, opposite the downed wires, but its likely that all access will be blocked once work starts to remove the debris.

Update: 12:14pm - The tree is now removed and one lane is being opened back to traffic. Other lane anticipated to open within 30 minutes

Despite our best efforts, none of our planned news stories have panned out so far today. Maybe everyone we've called is out enjoying the sun, and I hope you're able to join them.

Here's some photos from out walk today. It's now tulip and magnolia season around the neighborhood:

It's no secret that we've had an unusually easy winter, with warm temperatures and a lot less precipitation than normal, and it certainly seems like trees and plants are blooming earlier this year. Since we're now well into our third year of the neighborhood news biz, we can go back to our photo library and see if that feeling is accurate. 

Here's a photo looking east from Leschi, taken on the 9th of April, 2009:

And here's a photo from the same spot, taken on the 14th of March, 2010, showing even greener trees, and much less snow in the cascades:

Based on that, I'd say spring is hitting about 3 1/2 weeks earlier than last year. But I'm certainly not complaining.

Here's a few photos from our two hour hike around the neighborhood this weekend, where no jacket was needed even though it's still early February:

Quite a few fruit trees are already blooming:

It was the first time I've seen this new bridge over the newly uncovered creek up from Madrona Beach:

Still more seagulls than people at the beach:

Not a lot of snow in the Cascades:

The view back towards home:

Bad weather is here. And although so far snow is not in the forecast, I'm feeling like we'll get quite a bit again this year.

In last year's big snowstorm, we went days and days without any bus service. A few brave neighbors headed out on foot westbound towards downtown jobs, but many more were stranded without a way to get out of the neighborhood.

But now Metro has a plan for bad weather that will shut down smaller or more hilly routes and focus on a few core options to get people moving. Here's the only bus routes that will be running in the Central District in the event of a big snow storm or other disruptive emergency:

• #3 - Will still run between downtown and Madrona, but it will use MLK and Jackson Street instead of its usual Jefferson Street route. And it will only go as far as 1st Ave in Pioneer Square, and not continue on to Queen Anne.
• #11 - The Madison Park route will avoid the steepest part of Madison Street, and instead head north on MLK, jog over to 23rd on Union, and then head west on Jackson...

Welcome to fall in Seattle. It's been raining hard this morning, falling at about a quarter inch per hour. But never fear, dear Madison Valley readers, as the city says that the newly expanded detention pond at 30th & John is ready to accept up to 1.7 million gallons of storm overflows if needed. The expansion project was begun after a bad storm in December of 2006 caused a flash flood that claimed the life of one Madison Valley resident.

We stopped by the pond this morning and found construction crews working in the rain to finish up the concrete and landscaping on the site:

It's also time to think about more localized flooding due to leaf-clogged drains. The city is sponsoring an adopt-a-drain program that will provide you with free tools to help keep water from backing up on the street around your house. Stop by the Seattle Municipal Tower at 6th & Columbia on Wednesday (10/28) and Thursday (10/29) of this week between 10am and 1pm to get your supplies

Our weather got a bit boring there for a while. Why even bother to look it up if it you know it's going to be sunny and 75 degrees?

But with fall almost here, you may want some weather information that comes from somewhere closer than SeaTac. Andrew recently sent us a helpful tip, pointing out that there's now a Weather Underground station in Madison Valley.

For example, right now it's 52F, calm, with a cloud ceiling at 800 ft. We got almost an inch of rain yesterday, for a total of 1.39 inches for the month. And the good news is that coming up Friday, we'll be back to clear skies and 77 degrees.

We've also put the overview into a widget on the front page where you can track the forecast while you're on CDNews.

Not basketball madness, but snow madness as our wacky weather winter continues. I wonder if there's any omens associated with snow on the Ides of March.

The huge fluffy flakes are accumulating in the grass, but so far not on the pavement.

For me, this seals the deal of making this Sunday a stay-at-home-and-crank-out-some-software day. If you must get out, stay tuned to the new King County News Blog for info on bus routes.  So far they're all running on time.

Is this the craziest Seattle winter ever? Like me, you're waking up this morning to find about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground for something like the 20th time this season.

Here's the scoop:

• There's fresh powder on the side streets and a wet slush on the arterials
• Seattle public schools are starting two hours late, with school buses on snow routes
• There are no official Metro bus cancellations or reroutes yet.  But there's not any automated data of buses moving either. We haven't seen any on our brief sojourn outdoors.
• With this much accumulation and temperatures just below freezing, you can assume that the blue & black-diamond routes will be difficult this morning.  Jackson will typically be your best option for getting to and from downtown.
• SDOT says plows are out.  We haven't spotted any near CDNews HQ yet.  

SEATTLE--Snow was falling and sticking to roadway pavement early this morning in Seattle. In the early morning hours crews shifted from responding to reports of ice on the roadway to responding to snow....

Many of you are probably looking out your office windows now and wondering whether you'll be able to make it home. As of 2pm: no need to worry.

It's been snowing pretty steadily for the last hour or so, but so far there are is not any accumulation anywhere - even in the grass.

It's still pretty warm, with a reading of 37 degrees here at the CDNews World HQ Weather Center With Advanced Mega Doppler 4D And Storm Tracker (tm).

We'll update this as conditions change.

Look what you miss when you stay up late writing software and then sleep in a bit.  It snowed more than an inch! For something like the 59th time this season!

The good news: It's up to 36 degrees and all of the main streets are bare and wet, and all of our bus routes are supposedly running. The only possible hazard is that there's a slushy mix left on some of the residential streets, so take care with hills there.

Also - schools are running 2 hours late.

But be prepared:  they're saying we could get more rain/snow mix tomorrow and Wednesday.

Hooray.  More snow. (grrrrr....)

There's a light dusting of snow on the ground this morning, but it doesn't look like enough to mess up the commute too much. There's a little bit that has stuck to residential streets, but major roads like 23rd are bare and wet. It's probably safe to assume that some of the steeper hills will be too slick for 2-wheel-drive cars to manage (refer to our CD Slopes Map and avoid the black diamond routes).

All of our bus routes appear to be running with delays of up to 10 minutes.  Refer to sites like My Bus (23rd & Jefferson, 23rd & Union, 23rd & Yesler, 23rd & Jackson)  to get a prediction for your stop.  So far there are no route changes or cancellations listed on Metro's adverse weather page.

Something different in your part of the 'hood?  See places where people are having problems?  Leave a comment below.

I'm not sure we could ask for better weather in January than what we've had the last couple days. The dog and I got out of the house and took a long walk down to the lake and back.  Here's a few things we saw along the way:

Blue skies across the Garfield playfields:

Looking down at the valley below Denny Way:

A little private garden that invites the public in Denny/Blaine:

Messages to Kurt at Viretta park:

I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of dollars of solar panels on this new waterfront mansion will even cover 25% of the pool and spa energy requirements:

There's so many cool little pocket parks along the lake.  This one has recently been spruced up, and all of the blackberry brambles removed:

Signs of old street life along Lake Washington, across from Madrona park:

The downside of several clear days in the winter is that pollution obscures Mt. Rainier:

The downtown skyline pops up above the hills on the walk back home:

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The mayor is making three stops around the city this week to listen and talk with people about the city's response to the week-long December snow fiasco.

And would you believe that one of the three is right here in the heart of the CD?

It starts at 6:30pm at Garfield Community Center. Come prepared with your list of gentle suggestions of what the city can do differently when we have another big storm in 2023.

Good news!  It looks like warmer temperatures overnight have cleared up the snow from most major arterials.  But there's still a good amount on side streets, so you could have problems getting out of your part of the neighborhood if there's any hills involved.

Metro also says that they're running normal routes through the neighborhood, with the exception of the #27 bus that is truncated at 23rd and not going further east down to the lake.  But things are off schedule, so expect delays of up to 30 minutes for your bus to arrive.

Please update the comments below if you find particular routes that are challenging or bus routes that don't meet Metro's claims.

I stepped away for a few minutes to catch up on some household cleaning (bathtub! fun!), and came back to find snow falling and an accumulation starting on the ground.

The good news is that awesome weather-blogger Cliff Mass says that this should all turn to rain before the end of the night.  Let's hope that's true and that the first real workday of 2009 can proceed without a new layer of snow to foul up the commute.

We'll update this thread with further snow news as events warrant and as our snow-weary selves can muster.

Update: 8:25pm - It's still snowing big fluffy flakes here at world HQ, with about 2 inches accumulated on the ground. The snow on the tree limbs is really gorgeous.

Update: 10:30pm - Although the snow was predicted to stop by 10pm, it's still coming strong here at CDNews World HQ.  There's about 3 inches on the ground with slush on the flat arterials such as 23rd Ave.  Commenters report cars having problems now on the hills.  Metro is already cutting back on... (more)