Snow closes schools for second day

Many side streets remain icy as temperatures stay low

By Ashley Hiruko • February 5, 2019 1:30 am
Mitchell Dudley, left, and Benny Erickson begin the frigid but exciting task of building a snow fort. Residents awoke on Monday, Feb. 4, to a blanket of snow, closed schools and icy roads. See story on Page 13. Photos by Greg Asimakoupoulos
Mitchell Dudley, left, and Benny Erickson begin the frigid but exciting task of building a snow fort. Residents awoke on Monday, Feb. 4, to a blanket of snow, closed schools and icy roads. See story on Page 13. Photos by Greg Asimakoupoulos

Winter is here.

Snow began Sunday evening, hitting areas of King County with lowland snow of 1 to three inches. By Monday morning, numerous school districts had made the call to cancel school for the day.

The Bellevue School District announced early Monday that classes were canceled on Feb. 4. Other districts to follow suit included Lake Washington, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Northshore, Shoreline and Seattle. Most cited safety concerns due to road conditions.

A winter storm warning impacting Bellevue and vicinity areas of Snohomish, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Issaquah was in effect until 1 p.m. Monday, according to a winter storm warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It predicted heavy snowfall into early Monday afternoon with accumulations of 5 to 10 inches for those areas.

The Washington State Department of Transportation had about 100 plows and trucks out between King County and the Canadian Border on Monday, clearing roads for commuters. Two trucks were struck by drivers on Sunday, putting them out of commission.

In Bellevue, snow in the Woodridge neighborhood measured to seven inches.

The Seattle Department of Transportation was working Sunday to pre-treat streets and sidewalks at noon. On Feb. 4, they had 30 crews out using some of their 90 tons of granular salt to help clear roads.

On the Eastside, some King County metro routes were not operating on certain streets. And 29 others had no pre-planned snow routes and were operating on their typical pathways but “with possible significant delays due to weather, road or traffic conditions,” according to the metro website.

There were about 30 state troopers out on patrol in all zones of King County, said Trooper Rick Johnson, information officer for Washington State Patrol. That is the normal amount, he added, but all were busy.

“The main message is not to travel if you don’t have to,” he said. “If you do, take it very slow. We have had one of our patrol vehicles hit this morning while the trooper was investigating a collision on (Interstate) 405.”

Temperatures dropped on Monday evening and the icy conditions remained into Tuesday morning.

Most schools on the Eastside were closed on Tuesday as well.