2/8/19 10:33 AM

It's still pretty funny how the PNW reacts to snow. Seattle area is going to get a foot today...or by my old Syracuse standards- "barely noticeable." Yet here it's a legit problem.

With $0 invested in snow removal/response the municipalities let nature take its course. The roads quickly become very dangerous sheets of ice and society nearly comes to a screeching halt (unlike the cars) with just a few inches of accumulation.

In the short term I can see how it might have a bitter taste to invest in snow events that happen perhaps once or twice a year. On the other hand, the climate is undeniably changing and winters are going to get more and more snowy here. If this event goes on for even a few days into a week there will be a lot of pain for some folks.

I'm lucky. I have a woodstove and a cord of wood stacked up and I know how to deal with frozen water crystals covering everything. I can cook and heat water on the fire if we lose power as well as stay toasty warm for a while.

I'm not fully prepared, however...don't have a single set of studded bike tyres. So shame on me.

2/8/19 11:34 AM

"pretty funny how the PNW reacts to snow."

Weather really...

Snow is the end of the world here for drivers. Even rain is problems with blunt skull drivers here, you'd think they'd be used to it or something. It amazes me..

2/8/19 11:58 AM

Agreed, but even back east folks needed a few days of snow driving to remember their skills. I never understood that. The first snowfall would always have a slew of crashes to go along with it.

Thinking this out I don't see that municipalities would need to invest a tremendous amount for snow response. Snowfalls are MUCH less in volume than the east coast or midwest/mountains so smaller plows could handle a much larger volume of road miles. A small town like the one I live could likely make do with 3 or 4 small plows. Same with where you live, Bob.

We both live close to metro areas known for their hills in the city, an absolute disaster when the snow falls and it's not tended to. The longer I live here the more the response of "we don't get enough snow to do anything about it" rings hollow.

2/9/19 5:18 PM

quote:

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I know how to deal with frozen water crystals covering everything.

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2/11/19 2:34 PM

Rob, get some snow there, eh?

2/20/19 2:33 PM

In the 4 years that we have lived here, this was the first storm that produced any appreciable snow fall. I joked with friends that up until this storm, my old home in Birmingham, AL had gotten more snow than I had since moving to the PNW.

With that in mind, I can see why they don't have more invested in snow removal equipment. There isn't really a need when it will be idle most years.

Where are you in the Seattle area? I'm in Gig Harbor but work in Kent.

2/20/19 4:27 PM

Around here, the trucks used for plowing are used for other jobs in the off-season, with the plows and salting equipment removed. It's also not uncommon to see road grading equipment being used for plowing snow on local roads, since it's not really much different from their normal job of plowing dirt. They're a bit slow for plowing highways, though perhaps it wouldn't matter much for occasional use in the PNW.

2/20/19 5:06 PM

I see a lot of local municipalities that repurpose larger pickup trucks for snow removal. These are typically hwy. department trucks that otherwise see year round duties.

It’s an investment many places don’t want to make when it’s snow is a rare event, or had been, yuk, yuk.