Washington's Winter Blast

On January 18, 2012, the Pacific Northwest experienced the first snow of the season and the worst snowstorm since 1954.

These photos show storm clouds rolling in from the Puget Sound. Unlike the Eastern Seaboard, Washington rarely experiences major snowstorms. Because we are located so close to the Puget Sound, snow rarely lasts here more than a couple of days. January's storm began with snow flurries over the weekend and gradually grew more intense. Winds as high as 110 miles per hour blasted the Oregon coast. On Wednesday and Thursday, record amounts of snow fell in western Washington. The storm hit our capitol city, Olympia, harder than Seattle.

Seven hundred and thirty-six traffic accidents were reported in Washington during the heaviest snowfall. One hundred and twenty of these accidents occurred south of Seattle in the Olympia area. Because Seattle has reversed its no salt on the roads policy, the city fared much better under Mayor Mike McGinn's direction than it did in 2008 when Greg Nickels was mayor. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's transportation department spent approximately 1.35 million dollars on the emergency storm response for liquid brine, rock salt, labor hours, etc.

With one exception, all the school districts in western Washington were closed. Most state and federal agencies were closed. The zoo was closed. State Route 18 was closed. Interstate 5 was clogged and congested. Airlines cancelled flights. Many commuters called it a snow day and stayed home. This gave children and families plenty of opportunities to sled, have snowball fights and build snowmen.

The snow and ice caused a lot of damage. Icicles hanging on the evergreens caused tree branches to snap and sometimes completely uprooted trees. If we have too many snowstorms, we won't be able to call Washington "the Evergeen State" any more. Power outages affected approximately 400,000 people. Puget Sound Energy is offering a $50 discount to residents who were without electricity for five days.