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Snow moved into Western Washington after midnight, focusing its fury on Olympia and points south, where as much as 20 inches fell.
Primary routes such as Interstate 5 and main roads such as Fourth and Harrison avenues remained plowed and passable, but many secondary and neighborhood streets were a no-go. Schools and many businesses and government offices were closed.
And the snow isn’t going to melt right away, said Dennis D’Amico, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
A mix of snow and rain is expected Thursday morning, changing to all rain in the afternoon. But “it’s not going to be enough rain to melt away,” he said. “It’s just going to make things slushy.”
From Friday onward, it looks like plain old rain, with temperatures in the 40s.
Olympia appears to be a little shy of its 24-hour snow record, which is 14.2 inches, recorded in January 1972.
Some spots reported a much higher snowpack. Jay Shepard, who lives in the aptly named Alpine Hills subdivision near Black Lake, measured a total of about 30 inches outside his home on North Hill Loop Southwest. That includes earlier snowfall in recent days.
Emergency crews were busy responding to crashes.
“We’ve handled 205 collisions in Thurston and Pierce Co’s in the last 14 hours,” said Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill in a tweet. “The same time frame last week... we handled 20!”
Road crews in Olympia focused on major streets used by police, fire crews and transit. City of Olympia spokeswoman Cathie Butler said secondary streets could be plowed Thursday if they aren’t hampered with more snow.
“Our street crews have been working 12-hour shifts since last Friday all through the week,” she said. “And we only have five trucks with snow plows.”
Urban and small-stream flooding could be a problem when the snow finally starts to melt.
Most city hills were closed, including Lakeridge Drive (Courthouse) hill and Raft Street Hill.
The Capitol Campus remained open and the Legislature remained in session, though some hearings were delayed, said Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the state Department of Enterprise Services. State crews struggled to keep the campus clear of snow and ice.
“They go plow one road and then they have to deal with the snow that comes after that,” he said.
Advocates for the homeless scrambled to give people a warm place to stay off the streets. Major Bill Lum of the Salvation Army said 32 extra people came to the shelter on Fifth Avenue Tuesday night – 26 men and six women.
“That’s about our capacity, typically,” he said. But, if need be, the shelter could clear space in the dining room to allow 25 more people, he said. In addition, the shelter allowed people to stay in the dining room during the day to stay warm.
“We haven’t had to turn anyone away,” he said.
Danny Kadden, executive director of Interfaith Works, said there still were a few beds in the women’s shelter, which rotates among area churches. Occupants included a family of nine, he said.
“It’s, you know, kind of an extraordinary situation,” he said.
Intercity Transit buses were up and running with tire chains. Sixteen of 24 Intercity Transit routes are running on severe-weather operation, which means that buses 42, 43 and 44 serving the west side are canceled, spokeswoman Meg Kester said. Thirteen routes are on detour or limited service. Details are at www.intercitytransit.com.
Olympia garbage trucks had to suspend service because the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center was closed, Butler said. There will be no garbage pickup Thursday.
“We are planning to have our crews work on Friday and Saturday to go back and pick up any missed service from this week at least on roads that are accessible,” Butler said.
Pacific Disposal has notified customers in a recorded message that if crews don’t pick up, they will pick up extra on the next service day.
Puget Sound Energy reported no significant power outages in Thurston County. The snow has been lightweight enough not to cause problems, said Dorothy Bracken, a spokeswoman for the utility. There have been occasional outages when tree branches fall on power lines, but power is restored when they are removed.
“We continue to monitor the weather,” she said. “The crews are out in full force.”
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
