Crews work to clear roads as parts of Western Washington blanketed with snow

Crews in King, Snohomish and other counties in Western Washington began plowing snow as it started to fall in the lowlands Sunday.

KIRO 7 went out in the wintry conditions and saw snow falling at 184th Street Southwest in Lynnwood, making a slushy mess.

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Officials with Snohomish County said plow drivers worked overnight to clear roads before the slushy mess starts to freeze, making roads dangerously icy for Monday morning’s commute.

“Kind of cold and kind of slippery,” said Jeff Alvarez, who is used to California weather.

“This is my first time actually experiencing driving in the snow, so it’s been a crazy experience."

Alvarez is a transplant who is getting his first real taste of winter.

“Even going up these hills, it’s been kind of tough,” Alvarez said.

Some drivers struggled on the roads as the snow fell on I-5 near Alderwood Mall.

Earlier Sunday, the roads were clearer in Bothell.

Officials with Snohomish County said it had 10 trucks out plowing and sanding the roads and were mostly focused in the eastern and southern parts of the county.

“We’ll continue to have 10 trucks out until midnight. Then we’ll put eight more on and have a total of 18 trucks roughly county-wide from midnight until through the commute in the morning for sure,” said Steve Flude, the Snohomish County Road and Maintenance director.

Flude said they’re up against the clock.

“We’re just trying to clean any snow that happens to be on the roadway right now because it’s supposed to get pretty cold tonight. We want to try to get as much of that off as we can because it turns to ice,” Flude said.

Several parts of King County saw a light dusting, but it was enough to remind everyone about “snowmaggedon” last February.

“The first snow hasn’t even started to fall yet, and our crews have already been hard at work, “said Ethan Bergerson with the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Seattle road crews said they have been looking over their equipment and practicing the snow routes.

They planned to send out 60 trucks with snow-fighting equipment and to work around the clock.

“Seattle Department of Transportation is gonna be out there. We’re gonna be shoveling the overpasses, sidewalks and curb ramps that aren’t near buildings, but we can’t do it alone.,” Bergerson said.

With that resounding message, one family told KIRO 7 Sunday they did everything in their power to help deal with a possible snowmaggedon that might hit the region by purchasing supplies at a hardware store.

They bought a sled and plenty of salt to last the next few days.

“We were just actually talking in the car on the way here… I hope this time it’s just a few days and not a two-week period.

Down to the South Sound, Tacoma’s Public Works Department has a dozen snowplows, three deicing trucks with plows and four sanding trucks preparing for the snow. However, city crews don’t plow or deice residential streets.

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