(no subject)

[alicebentley]

Yesterday my student group discussed moving Wednesday's meeting to Tuesday (deciding at 3 pm a meeting that would be held at 5;30...) because of the snow expected on Wednesday.

The roads are clear although back rural roads still have some ice on them.

There *is* a storm expected - with 1 to 2 inches accumulation predicted - but it hasn't started yet, and may miss the area entirely.

This morning I check the website and the kid's school is closed "Due to changing weather conditions and forecast".

I just can't tell if the folks here freak out over nothing (my experience last time this happened) or if there really is something to be cautious about. I'm not worried about my driving, with my little snowbunny of a car, but I'll be careful to watch for the rest of the folks on the road.

Comments

[jeliza]

Around here, it isn't that the snow is scary, but that the natives don't know how to drive in it that causes the shutdown. (I'm a Seattle native, but I lived in Pittsburgh long enough to really learn how to drivie in it.)

I preemptively Tivo-ed new episodes of Sesame Street when I heard the forecast. (Shoreline SD is also closed)

That's hilarious!

[isherempress.livejournal.com]

We're expecting a foot of snow here Thursday night & Friday, with other storms lined up and due on Saturday night, and again on Christmas Eve.

I swear, we live in a nation of wimps.

Seattle and Snow

[ladyjestocost.livejournal.com]

There's a lot going on here - some cultural, some physical.

Physical first. Seattle has two things that make for very bad driving in snow/icy weather. Lots of hills (more than San Franciso - really - and some as steep or more so) and lots of bridges (somewhere around 250). You really can't get much of anywhere in Seattle without taking a bridge or driving up or down a hill. Usually on a little tiny road. With cars parked on at least one side.

This is what accounts for all the people who get the day off due to snow promptly heading out to the mountains to go skiing. I-90 is a big freeway with generous lanes, smooth curves and easy grades, frequently scrapped & sanded - all the things 90% of Seattle streets are not.

Furthermore since Seattle rarely gets much snow, it's really not worth it for the city to maintain a fleet of snow-removal equipment such as any major city back east would. (If this year is the same as most - we've now had our snow for the year.) So it can take a while after a major storm for the streets to clear. The most recent that comes to mind was ten years ago, and I had no choice about going into work. By the time I was headed home, there were still no buses on Eastlake but there was still lots of unplowed snow.

And that's the cultural bit of it. For us, snow is exciting! Fun! A break from the routiine - and maybe a day or two off work. Something to talk about with everyone.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

The first guy I ever knew who moved to Seattle (decades before it was fashionable) claimed he saw someone with studded tires on their car actually get sparks off the street. If the car isn't going, you should push the accelerator even harder, right?