Monday brings snow and hail to Ballard

Afternoon update: All kinds of winter weather have descended on Ballard and surrounding areas, including sleet, hail and snow. Combined with the tanker accident at I-5 and I-90, the commute home has turned into a nightmare.

Meanwhile, over at the Space Needle…

A rare lightning strike at the Needle! Wild weather blowing through the city – stay safe, Seattle! pic.twitter.com/19bpMs97FO

— Space Needle (@space_needle) February 27, 2017

Earlier: The snow started falling around 6 a.m., and depending on where you live, the Ballard area has a trace up to an inch of snow on the ground. Forecasters say we could see snow showers until midday — perhaps accumulating as much as a couple inches — when it will switch over to rain.

So much for the snow not lasting. It's getting very white out there. Now forecasters are saying it might keep snowing at sea level until about noon today. #flakenews #snow #seattle #ballard #becarefuloutthere

A post shared by J D Kelleher (@jdkelleherphotography) on Feb 27, 2017 at 7:13am PST

Seattle schools are running on schedule. There are some obvious traffic impacts throughout the city, and Metro buses are on snow routes.

Who else wants to build a snowman? Fremont is the place! pic.twitter.com/ZvLln5kIkw

— Mike O'Brien (@CMMikeOBrien) February 27, 2017