Seattlest will be counting down to 2011 with a series of posts on our highlights of this year and what we're looking forward to in the next. Got a list to suggest? Send it our way. See the entire series here. more ›

KING 5's headline says it all: "Business owner wanted snow plows, got umbrellas." In a nice gesture, badly timed right in the wake of this year's snowpocalypse, city lack of preparedness and the inevitable citizen wrath, Seattle Department of Transportation has begun handing out umbrellas to local businesses as part of their Holiday Pedestrian Safety Campaign. The cost? Around $5,000 for the umbrella arm of the campaign, and $47,000 for the whole shebang. The justification for these brightly-colored umbrellas, which read, cutely, "See You in the Crosswalk," are distributed from local retail outlets and returned, theoretically, on the honor system. The goal is to increase pedestrian safety during the winter months' darkness and inclement weather. From KING: more ›

The world’s most advanced meteorological scrying machines and guesswork technology all agree there’s a fighting chance that this weekend will see Seattle’s first snow showers. But this is not the time for panicked flashbacks to last year’s citywide shut down, for this year, we are prepared! more ›

The plan includes an "adverse weather map," and improved transit alerts via email. A text message option would be a lot more useful for riders, though, at least until they start installing laptops at every bus stop. more ›

Mayor Nickels took heavy fire for the City's handling of the storm. It certainly cost him some goodwill, and whoever our next mayor is, he'd better be equipped to respond to winter storms effectively and quickly if he expects his constituents to stay happy. more ›

• Creativity strikes again! Wallyhood reports of a gold papier-mâché sculpture found in Gas Works Park with a note, saying it was gifted to the citizens of Seattle. It's the type of guerilla art that just warms the heart.
• In an international six degrees of separation kind of way, a reader from Seattlest's sister site Shanghaiist helped identify the mysterious mustache man with amnesia. All of which goes to prove that you should never, ever underestimate the power of the Ists.

We've been hammering rather bluntly at city services, so we thought to relate recent instances where they've gotten it right, for fairness' sake. Add yours in the comments, should you feel so inspired. more ›

In a grim, darkly hilarious special report, the Times has confirmed that the guys in charge of dealing with Snowmageddon in December didn't know what they were doing--as in, they had no experience dealing with a major snowstorm and they made "questionable calls" right and left. From the report:

"Mr. Jackson had no idea of what was going on," said Sione Kongaika, a plow driver who recently retired after 31 years with the Seattle Department of Transportation. Two or three days into the first major snowfall, "all he was doing is yelling, 'We have to get more plows downtown. The mayor can't get to the office.' "

UW atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass became a local internet celebrity seemingly overnight during last year's Snowmageddon, when he was forecasting weather in circles around all the other so-called weathermen. In addition to his blog, he's got a book, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest, that came out last fall. His next lecture, "The Secrets of Northwest Weather Prediction," is tomorrow night at Town Hall (7:30 p.m.). Tickets are $5. more ›

Plow vs. wait it out. more ›

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog has become a very good friend of ours over the past few days--he hasn't failed us like other local weather folk. He says this morning's commute may be worse than yesterday's, due to ice, and we are inclined to believe him...but we sincerely hope he's wrong about "Wednesday's potential storm." For once, we're really not dreaming of a white Christmas.
• We were going to try and post something non-snow-related from West Seattle Blog, but then they had to go and post these unmissable snow sculptures and a brand new West Seattle waterfront condo. Not quite as creepy as their bear with fish in stomach ice sculpture from Thursday, but awesome nonetheless.
• Sable Verity is right where the rest of us are: calling for rescue crews to save us from a serious case of cabin fever.

Unless you've fled the city for the holidays, you are well aware that Snowmageddon 2008 is the only story in Seattle right now. Here's what the neighborhood blogs are saying about the great 'blizzard' of 2008.
• We are not going to link to all ten weekend snow-related posts on West Seattle Blog, but we will tell you that at their latest tape measure, West Seattle snowfall clocked in just under a foot of snow.
• Hillku has been very inspired by the snow; they have five snow-related haikus.
• Ballard's latest measurement has over 7.5 inches falling. Must feel just like the fjords of Norway. Also, MyBallard warns you and yours: do not try to sled holding on to a car. It's a really bad idea.

After one snow and before the next:
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Quite reasonably, most bars and venues have decided to shut their doors tonight and cancel any scheduled concerts. Here's a quick list of the venues we know that have closed their doors and said no, thanks to the snow, tonight: more ›