MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Snohomish County declares state of emergency ahead of weekend snow

Feb 5, 2019, 5:51 AM | Updated: Feb 7, 2019, 5:18 pm

snow...

Snow plows on Aurora. (Seattle DOT)

(Seattle DOT)

After recovering from an icy blow last weekend, another round of snow is expected to strike Washington over Friday and Saturday. Ahead of the weekend snow, Snohomish County declared a State of Emergency, effective Friday, Feb. 8 at 8 a.m.

RELATED: Why Northwest snow can be the harder to drive in
PHOTOS: Snow blankets Western Washington

“The safety of our residents is always our highest priority,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers in a news release. “We’d much rather be prepared and not have a major event than the alternative. The storms headed this way have the potential to create terrible road conditions and power outages. I’d ask our neighbors to prepare now and make sure they have enough supplies to last for the duration of the storms.”

County officials advise residents to get grocery shopping done ahead of time, top off gas tanks, protect pets from the cold, and check on elderly neighbors with special needs.

Snohomish County Road Maintenance crews will be fully staffed around the clock when the snow arrives, working 12-hour shifts plowing roads and salting roads. Up to 40 plows are scheduled to be working on unincorporated roads at any given time.

“It’s a good idea to plan to stay home,” Snohomish County Emergency Management Director Jason Biermann said. “The snow is likely to stick around. Give yourself a break from dangerous conditions.”

Additionally, schools throughout the Puget Sound area have already called for early school dismissals on Friday of up to three hours.

Check for information on school closings here

Snow specifics

“Most of the snow is going to be during the day, especially the afternoon hours of (Friday),” said Logan Johnson with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

“In general, a lot of the area is probably going to be seeing a 5-8 inch snowfall total,” he said. “The heaviest, most favored areas are looking to be toward Bremerton, or Island County, or the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula.”

The snow will likely arrive Friday afternoon as temperatures drop into the 20s. Snowfall is expected to taper off by Saturday afternoon. Up to 8 inches of snow are possible in many areas. The NWS cautions, “as we saw with the last storm, it doesn’t take much to wreak havoc on the roadways.”

NWS

On top of the new snow, heavy wind is also expected. Whatcom County will get the strongest winds of up to 60 mph. Other areas, such as Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, or Bremerton could experience 20-35 mph winds.

Snowfall is likely to peak in intensity Saturday morning, with chances for snow at the highest in Hood Canal, areas along the east slopes of the Olympics, lowlands of Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan counties, and mountain passes. In an impact report, NWS noted that “this system is even more complex than the last,” and that “snowfall totals will be less uniform than the previous system.” Because of that, there’s a chance that precipitation could start as rain before eventually shifting to snow in many areas.

The weather service goes on to warn of another system from Sunday night into Monday, and even possibly Tuesday. That all being so, both the timing and intensity for all of this is very much up in the air, both literally and figuratively.

NWS

Preparing for the snow storm

KIRO 7 reports that snow supplies are running out at Western Washington stores. Products like shovels and deicer have flown off the shelves. As KIRO 7’s Gary Horcher reports, “Some local hardware store shelves are bare and in some places, the entire next shipment is already being reserved by hundreds of customers.”

New shipments of deicing products are expected around Thursday, but they won’t likely last long. Most stores expect deicer to be sold before going on the shelves.

School closings in the region
Check Seattle’s snow plow map

MyNorthwest News

Image: Brightly colored eggs are set on a table on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington,...

Ted Buehner

Expect good Easter weekend weather for egg hunts, chilly evening Mariners games

Both Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend will feature temperatures warming to around 60 degrees across much of Western Washington.

6 hours ago

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lumen Field on July 22, 20...

Micki Gamez, KIRO Newsradio and Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Seattle tourism dollars break records following All-Star Week, Taylor Swift

It was a record-setting year for dollars flowing into Seattle from tourists.

7 hours ago

Image: A bridge in Carnation....

Julia Dallas

Carnation frustrated with Seattle again after 8th false emergency alarm induces widespread panic

Carnation citizens have faced a series of panic-inducing alarms after SPU's system for the Tolt Dam falsely sounded eight times.

9 hours ago

Grocery store shopper...

Bill Kaczaraba

Ways to deal with Seattle grocery store sticker shock

Seattle grocery store sticker shock continues to play havoc on locals, but there are ways to counter high prices.

9 hours ago

belltown hellcat social media...

Frank Sumrall

Infamous ‘Belltown Hellcat’ social media influencer charged with reckless driving

The social media influencer has been accused of driving 107 miles per hour through Belltown in a Dodge Hellcat.

10 hours ago

KIRO Newsradio gracie awards...

MyNorthwest Staff

KIRO Newsradio anchors receive Gracie Awards for outstanding work

Heather Bosch and Lisa Brooks, anchors at KIRO Newsradio, have been honored by the Alliance for Women in Media with prestigious Gracie Awards.

13 hours ago

Snohomish County declares state of emergency ahead of weekend snow