Enjoy a White Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's...

"The more I look at the forecast models, the more snow I see. Well, at least those who like a white holiday won't be disappointed." That's the beginning of a snow update post by UW meteorologist Cliff Mass, which went up last night. Not only are we expecting snow on Wednesday--"1-2 inches at low levels near the Sound, 2-4 inches at higher elevations"--but there's a good chance we'll see some on Thursday, too. Mass has also become a snowplow pusher, pointing out: "We have a major snowfall (like this year) every 5-8 years and significant snowfalls 4-8 inches every other year or so." Seattle's current strategy is to squish those inches into compact snow and ice, and just wait for the melt.

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By MvB in News on December 23, 2008 10:15 AM

Comments [rss]

bilco

The salt issue is typical Seattle up-fuckery.

Many/most years, there is absolutely no need for it. Then, the equation becomes laughably simple - if there's going to be about 1 day's inconvenience or risk, you do the eco-right thing. No salt.

When there is substantial snowfall, and you're looking at days and days of bad roads - salt. Let's not pretend that the absence of salt leads to an ecological paradise. Like most things, it's a decision based on an implicit compromise.

The problem with the approach outlined above is that someone has to make a decision in real-time, and someone else will be pissed. The alternative - well, you're witnessing it.

Matt G1

I'm not sure where I stand on the salt issue. I'm happy I live in a place that doesn't corrode my car to shreds, and I'd hesitate to dump even more chemicals into the sound. But there are some good arguments to clear our snow up quickly. Then again, salt isn't as magical as most think - the reason the freeways are clear has more to do with the volume of cars that drive there and the type of snow plow (basically scraping the ground - something we can't do on city streets) than the substance you spread.

I'm not even sure why we need cars to be able to move freely inside our city. A good bus snow plan and 4x4 shuttles up hills is all we really need to keep our city moving.

James Callan

Yeah, I'm not really sure where people get the "this only happens every 15 years" idea. I've been here 15 years, and can remember at least 4 times that snow shut down the city basically because the available plows can't keep up.

And that doesn't include 1990's infamous "kids in school until midnight" snowfall.