Seattle is packing our entire winter into two weeks this year. It has snowed again. Twice.

The “potentially significant” storm arrived on Friday and it started snowing in the afternoon. The temperature where I live was hovering right around freezing and the snowfall wasn’t that heavy, so not much was sticking and roads remained wet and bare.

But as night fell the temperature dropped and the clouds unloaded big time. I woke up early Saturday morning to almost 6 inches of fresh snow. Wow.

With deeper snow than last week, and it not being as cold, driving was looking to be trickier this time through the wet and heavy white stuff. And I wasn’t feeling at all enthused about clearing off my car. But I couldn’t resist. I wanted to go out and see the sights because we only get this much snow in the city once every decade or so.

I’m probably a bit of an oddball in this regard, but I actually enjoy driving in snow as long as it’s not icy, heavy slush, or too deep. And also as long as there isn’t much traffic. Puttering around a winter wonderland at 20 mph, not in a hurry to get anywhere, when few other cars are on the road, is my idea of a good time.

 

 

My first stop was Twin Ponds Park in Shoreline. On the way there I had to drive around a large tree that had fallen into the street from someone’s front yard.

The lots at the park weren’t plowed and only one vehicle had been there before me so even with my 4WD it was pretty iffy. I only stopped very briefly, barely getting out of the car for a few quick snaps, so I never even made it to the pond. I ran into a friendly couple who were out snow shoeing with their Bernese mountain dog and all three of them were having their own good time.

 

 

 

Then I decided to head to the waterfront in Edmonds. I don’t recall ever going to a beach right after a heavy snow and was curious about what I would see.

The wind had picked up quite a bit while I was driving and oh my was it icy cold coming off the sound when I got out of the car at the Senior Center lot! The waves were rolling in and I couldn’t even see land on the other side.

 

 

 

 

My next stop was Marina Beach. Saw two more people with snow shoes there, along with several hardy souls at the dog park. It must have been an exciting outing for the dogs, getting to play in the snow and at the beach at the same time. Doggy heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

I also stopped by the Edmonds Marsh briefly.

 

 

Since the snow was quite a bit deeper and wetter than last week and I was still only shod in the terribly impractical footwear of tennis shoes, I did very little walking around at any of my stops and stuck close to my heated car. But I’m still glad that I made the effort to go out because I knew I would regret it if I hadn’t.

I finished my outing at the Channel Marker Pub in Harbor Square near the marsh. It’s one of my favorite places to eat a hot meal and read a book, but it being in Edmonds means I don’t get there very often. It was a pleasant way to relax and warm up, and the clam chowder and cheeseburger were delicious.

It’s now late Sunday night as I prep this for posting and it has snowed again. That’s snowstorm #3 in only a week. Extremely unusual for Seattle. This time there’s only about two inches of new snow. Normally that would be worthy of comment, but Snowmageddon 2019 makes it a mere meteorological blip.

Storm #4 will be arriving Monday afternoon. Meteorologists are calling it a “potent” storm. The problem is, it’s unlike the first three and is a bugger to predict because there are so many variables that can affect what will happen. Whether it starts as snow, freezing rain, or rain depends on the final storm track and where we live. If we’re in the snow zone we might get another 4-8 inches.

I love how pretty everything is with a thick layer of snow, but this is getting to be a bit much.

Whatever happens to start with, the storm is bringing warmer air with it and come Tuesday we’re all going to be dealing with a huge slushy mess. Bleh.

Update: It’s Monday morning and updated forecast is for only 1-2 inches in Seattle in the afternoon, switching to rain in the evening. Whew. Less slush to deal with.

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