Slippery roads, school closures as snow falls in Edmonds

Updated at 7:30 p.m. Friday

Schools were closed for the day and motorists faced slippery conditions on Edmonds roadways Friday morning caused by Thursday night’s snowfall.

“All roads are open this morning, and traffic is moving,” Edmonds Police spokesman Sgt. Josh McClure said Friday. “The only overnight closure was on Puget Drive, just long enough to allow the roadway to be sanded.”

But warmer temperatures turned the snow on most roads to slush by early afternoon Friday. More of the same is expected Saturday, with a 70 percent chance of rain and a high of 43 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

And the Edmonds School District reminds parents and staff to update their calendars,  since the day off means students will go to school a day later in June: The last day of school will now be Friday, June 23 (early release), with Thursday, June 22 restored to a full day.

  1. There was a big mess with articulated buses stuck on the westbound hill on 205th at Aurora. I drive a lot in Shoreline and they were out proactively putting down deicer on their main roads. I called the City of Edmonds yesterday and I was told that they did some sanding and were busy responding to locations called in by the police which were dangerous. The person I talked to said they just blocked off hazardous roads. Does the City of Edmonds have a snow plan I can look at online? Is ANYTHING done proactively when snow is predicted? I emailed the folks responsible at the City, but of course they were busy putting out fires yesterday.

      1. The information you pointed me to shows me that they have identified priorities, but it doesn’t say if they do anything proactively – like put down deicer. KOMO news ran the story of three stuck buses near Aurora, but that area shows up for snow removal and anti-icing. What happened? Was no deicer (or anti-icer) put down before the storm? Did they not get out early enough to remove the snow? I would like to hear from someone as to what is supposed to be done and what, if anything, was actually done on Thursday.

        1. From City of Edmonds Public Works Director Phil Williams this morning: “Yes – we put down deicer prior to forecasted snow events – everybody does as far as I know. We do the same when there is existing moisture on the roads and freezing temperatures are predicted. These efforts are limited to our priority routes and known problem areas in the City. A map of our priority routes are on our website. We generally do not put down deicer on smaller residential streets, and again, I’m not aware of any cities that do. In larger events when we have accumulated five or 6 inches of snow we will begin plowing not just our priority routes but we may plow other areas as well, time and equipment permitting. These patterns can change depending on the on-going short-term and extended forecasts during and after the event.”

        2. Thank you for the information. Perhaps the buses should have had chains. I could see the deicer lines on the Shoreline streets, but didn’t notice them on 100th Ave West. It is certainly possible I just missed them. I’m very glad to know that the streets are deiced in advance.

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