(snow) on the road agan

yep, weather’s turning crappy here again. basically, our winters are mild. like mid 40’s for highs, mid 30’s for lows. all winter. right? misconception that we have a normal northern hemisphere/northern north american winter — on this side of the mountains, we’re moderated by the ocean and the Puget Sound so our winters are milder.

so far this winter we’ve had several storms that have really sucked. i’ll continue to gripe about them if you choose to read more.

these storms happen when a cold front comes through from the northwest, combining with moist air that’s here, and causing much havoc. it usually goes like this: rain, rain, crazy rain, high wind. crazy high wind. like tree toppling, 60+mph gusts. then, snow. snow snow snow. well snow that kinda melts to slush. it’s a lot of snow, for us.

then – the cold front is here. so that means, cold. cold cold cold. mid 20’s at night, at first. then depending how strong the high pressure system, maybe teens at night. remember the snow/slush i mentioned? yep, now it’s frozen. on the sidewalks, it’s an uneven crusty surface. on the roads, a literal skating rink.

last time this happened, it took people 12 hours to go 20 miles on I-405. there were neighborhoods in valleys that turned into new-car junkyards. there were places that didn’t have power for a week.

right now, we’re at the end of the snow snow snow part.