5 p.m. Seattle Public Schools just announced there’s no school on Wednesday. “Enjoy your Thanksgiving break,” school officials say. As for the forecast, tomorrow will be partly sunny with temps in the mid 20s to near 30 — so the snow and ice will stay for a bit longer. On Thanksgiving, forecasters say we could begin the day with a little snow, but turning to rain later in the day.
Brett sent us this photo of a tree that fell over at Golden Gardens.
Also from Golden Gardens, Bryan sent us this photo (more here). “Apparently somebody couldn’t resist the urge to drive all over the grass and do several doughnuts and slides in the fresh snow,” he said. “I saw some extensive damage to the grass in front of the bathhouse and the grass area to the north.”
4 p.m. Here are the highlights with the latest snow updates from the city:
- Residents and businesses are advised they are responsible for clearing the sidewalks in front of their homes or businesses.
- As of 2pm, SDOT had eight plow/spreader trucks operating in the north end.
- No decision yet on whether garbage, recycling and yard waste will be picked up Wednesday.
- SPD will not cite routine parking violations or overtime/peak violations but will tow cars blocking streets.
- All locations of the Seattle Public Library will be open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
2 p.m. We just wrapped up a quick tour to check road conditions. As mentioned earlier, the arterials are in great shape with 15th Ave itself being bare and wet. Surprisingly, Market east of 15th is a slushy mess in spots.
Market Street near McDonald’s
The sun has done wonders, with even some of the side streets becoming easy to navigate. But for streets in the shade, conditions are still dangerous. Below is a shot of 67th Street near Ballard High.
NW 67th Street just off 15th Ave
We spotted a lot of people walking to the Ballard Market and Safeway instead of taking their cars.
At least one postal carrier was prepared for the weather.
11:30 a.m. Thanks to those of you who sent emails about a fire inside an apartment building this morning in the 6500 block of 24th Ave NW. MyBallard reader Silver posted in the forum that water was all over 65th and 24th as crews put out the fire and they requested sand to make sure the water didn’t freeze. She says 24th is now back open. Seattle Fire tells us the fire was confined to the kitchen of one unit.
11:00 a.m. More people are starting to venture out. Arterials like 15th Ave. are in good shape but the side streets are still very tricky. We also received a cute photo from MyBallard reader Mary who wanted to share an image of her grandchildren Sabine and Milo in the snow.
9:30 a.m. Public libraries will open at 1 p.m. today as “warming centers,” the mayor’s office says. Since most people are staying home today, many of you will be out playing in the snow. Be safe if you decide to break out the sled. Send us some fun snow photos at tips@myballard.com.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at Queen Anne View’s coverage (and video) of cars sliding and crashing down the Counterbalance last night.
8 a.m. A look at our Ballard-area traffic cameras shows that most people are heeding the advice to stay put today. Traffic is lighter than a weekend.
Traffic camera 15th and Market St. Refresh every couple minutes
And Seattle Public Utilities says garbage, recycling and yard waste service is canceled today “due to dangerous road conditions.” Missed customers will be collected next Tuesday, November 30, and allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge. Also, the University of Washington has canceled operations and classes today. If you’re planning on flying out of Sea-Tac this morning, Alaska Airlines says employees are having trouble getting to work, so many flights may be late.
6:25 a.m. Metro announced that Route 18 rerouted off 24th Av NW between NW 65th St & NW 85th St northbound only. It is traveling northbound via 32nd Av NW instead.
5 a.m.: Metro just announced that Route 44 is not traveling west of the U District. It is not serving Wallingford or Ballard due to icy streets.
4 a.m.: Officials are urging people to stay home on Tuesday if at all possible. For many, though, Tuesday is just a continuation of Monday.
Jeremy sent us this after 1:30 a.m. looking south on 24th towards 67th.
Ballardite Paul Balcerak is still at work near 3rd Ave and Broad after waiting more than an hour for the 15 and 18 bus late last night. Early this morning he called Yellow Cab and was told to try again at 8 a.m. “On the upside,” on Twitter he writes, “I had time this morning to change @FoxTheDog‘s Facebook photo.”
TUESDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE 20S. NORTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.
TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 8 TO 15. NORTHEAST WIND TO 10 MPH IN THE EVENING BECOMING LIGHT.
WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND TO 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE 20S TO LOWER 30S. SOUTH WIND TO 10 MPH.
THANKSGIVING DAY…CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S.
Do you have a traffic report to share? Please post in comments…
Is the 18 REALLY traveling north on 32nd? I only question it because I thought the northbound lanes on 32nd were going to be avoided by Metro. The 17 is definitely traveling on 32nd, but only going south. Northbound, they’re supposed to be taking 24th.
Metro’s website does not indicate the 18 is on 32nd N.W. NORTHBOUND OONLY. So my poor wife waited 45 minutes and finally took a 17 which only got her downtown not lower queen anne. Even the metro operator didn’t know it was only NORTHBOUND.
Thanks for the updates. It helps a lot to know what’s going on out there to plan my day.
Bea’s parents, I live on 32nd, and have not seen an 18 today. I haven’t seen ANY buses going northbound today, because I think the 17 is using 24th, per the snow route for that bus. When I checked the snow route for the 18, it doesn’t even mention 32nd at all.
Yeah… nobody on my block but me cleared the snow from the sidewalk in front of their house. During the afternoon sun that snow half-melted to slush and it is all going to freeze to ice tonight. Should be fantastic tomorrow morning.
it does. i called specifically about this since i needed a visual. it cuts wb on 65th and then nb on 32. i questioned why the 17 can’t do that? apparently it doesn’t have the same amount of ridership.