Ice storm shuts down Sea-Tac runways, closes roads, halts transit, cuts power – KIRO 7 News Seattle

WESTERN WASHINGTON — Freezing rain in areas of Western Washington has shut down all but one runway at Sea-Tac Airport, suspended public transportation, caused road closures and cut power to thousands amid icy conditions.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said all drivers should delay non-essential travel because of icy conditions across the area. Officials said there were too many collisions and spinouts to report.

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“Our crews are still working the roads but we suggest holding off until weather conditions improve,” WSDOT said.

“The heaviest freezing rain has moved on, but light freezing rain/wintry mix will continue through the morning. Temps at the surface should be above freezing around lunch or into the early afternoon. Even light freezing rain means ice,” KIRO 7 Meteorologist Nick Allard said at 7:20 a.m.

LIVE UPDATES:

10:40 a.m. Snohomish PUD said crews are encountering multiple power poles and trees on the ground in Gold Bar.

10:38 a.m. Due to the ongoing icy conditions, the I-5 Express Lanes in Seattle will be kept in the southbound direction through Saturday afternoon.

10:20 a.m. Puget Sound Energy is reporting 13,562 customers are without power. Snohomish PUD has 5,554 and Seattle City Light has 353. There are also outages in the San Juan Islands, and Grays Harbor and Clallam counties.

10:07 a.m. The Seattle Fire Department said crews are responding to a large number of calls across the city for slips and falls on ice on sidewalks, roadways and parking lots and advised people to stay inside if possible.

10 a.m. All Metro Transit service remains suspended due to icy conditions, including buses, water taxis, on-demand and the Seattle Streetcar. The next update will be at 2 p.m.

9:52 a.m. Eastbound SR 18 is closed at Issaquah-Hobart Road Southeast due to multiple collisions, spinouts and a jackknifed semi. WSDOT said the closure is expected to take multiple hours.

9:40 a.m. Sound Transit Link trains are now running every ten minutes.

9:15 a.m. Seattle Public Utilities has canceled residential garbage, recycling, and food waste collection. Tues, Wed, Thursday and Friday customers can set out double next week at no extra charge.

9:07 a.m. Seattle Center Monorail service remains suspended.

8:58 a.m. The Washington State Department of Transportation said drivers should continue to delay all non-essential travel due to freezing rain still falling and icy conditions on roadways area wide.

8:29 a.m. The Lower Spokane Street Bridge in Seattle has reopened.

8:28 a.m. “Sound Transit’s 1 Line is running with minor delays but it’s a skating rink to get to/from the stations! Stay put unless absolutely necessary until things start to thaw out.”

8:08 a.m. All Kitsap Transit service remains canceled.

7:58 a.m. WSDOT’s Snoqualmie Pass Twitter account said drivers planning to cross I-90 should delay their trips, if possible. East of the summit there is drifting snow and poor visibility. West of the summit has freezing rain. There is heavy snow at the summit.

7:47 a.m. U.S. 2 is closed between Gold Bar and Index due to downed trees, freezing rain and icy conditions.

7:30 a.m. Most King County facilities will be closed Friday due to weather conditions. They will reopen on Tuesday, Dec. 27.

7 a.m. All Metro Transit service remains suspended due to icy conditions, including buses, water taxis, on-demand and the Seattle Streetcar. Next update at 10 a.m.

6:57 a.m. One runway at Sea-Tac Airport has reopened after being deiced. Operations will continue to be limited depending on weather conditions.

6:52 a.m. Freezing rain and high winds has caused power outages in the eastern areas of Snohomish County. Outage map: OutageMap.SnoPUD.com. About 5,400 customers are without power.

6:41 a.m. I-90 between I-405 and and SR 18 reopened.

6:40 a.m. Pierce Transit service is delayed until 10 a.m.

6:24 a.m. All Community Transit service to Seattle and local service within Snohomish County is suspended due to hazardous roads.

6:23 a.m. The Washington State Department of Transportation said all drivers should delay non-essential travel because of icy conditions across the area.

6 a.m. The Lower Spokane Street Bridge is closed due to a crash and icy conditions.

5:56 a.m. All Alaska and Horizon departures out of Seattle and Portland are canceled until noon due to icy runway conditions.

5:35 a.m. All Community Transit service into Seattle is suspended due to hazardous roads. Local service in Snohomish County will continue. The Zip Shuttle suspended until noon. Find details at this link.

5:30 a.m. Washington State Ferries said service has been suspended on the Seattle-Bremerton route and the Port Townsend-Coupeville route. There is one-boat service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, Seattle-Bainbridge, Edmonds-Kingston and Mukilteo-Clinton routes.

5:30 a.m. Start of Pierce Transit service now delayed until 7 a.m. When routes begin, they’ll be on snow routes.

5:21 a.m. All Pierce Transit routes are on a 2-hour delay. Once service starts, they will be on a snow detour.

5:10 a.m. Sea-Tac Airport said all runways are closed indefinitely as crews continue to deice surfaces.

4:20 a.m. King County Metro canceled all bus service suspended due to ice. Metro said its next update would be at 7 a.m.

“Metro buses are unable to leave bus bases due to deteriorating and unsafe road conditions. We regret the impact on our riders. We will add service as soon as it is safe for customers and employees,” Metro said.

3:35 a.m. All lanes of Interstate 90 closed between I-405 and SR 18 from icy road conditions that caused multiple collisions and spin outs. Troopers advise people to stay home if possible.

2 a.m. Runways at Sea-Tac Airport closed after the airfield received a dump of freezing rain that quickly solidified into ice. Hundreds of flights are canceled.

FORECAST

The storm is right on track with the forecast and a lot of western Washington is seeing freezing rain. Almost every temperatures sensor is below freezing, which means if you see rain, assume ice. It’s liquid precipitation falling on something at or below freezing and instantly turning to ice or freezing rain.

The rain will taper a bit over the next couple of hours, but until late-morning to about mid-day, temperatures will be below freezing. Even as we warm up around midday, with spotty rainfall there could still be some pockets that are below freezing.

We have pockets of snow in and around the Hood Canal area and north of Everett, but also some pockets of freezing rain mixed in.

“The slight lull in precipitation will help this morning, but please remember that if you see rain assume ice!” KIRO 7 Meteorologist Nick Allard said.

This afternoon temperatures will warm into the upper-30s with spotty areas of just rain showers; however, there could still be some pockets of light freezing rain mixed in. The Cascades will be a mess with freezing rain possible all day and possibly early Saturday.

Bottom line, from now through about midday, any rain could fall as freezing rain.

(Forecast continues after video)

Snow and freezing rain will increase through the passes Friday afternoon and last into Friday night with the potential for significant impact there. More than a half-inch of ice is possible at Snoqualmie Pass by Saturday morning, causing major travel disruption.

East of the Cascades, some light icing is likely late Friday and Friday night, but then increasing snow and freezing rain Saturday into Christmas Day.

Over the weekend, while some freezing rain and snow are likely from the passes east Saturday and into Christmas Day, west of the Cascades, we’ll have heavy rain at times. This rain could cause urban flooding from blocked storm drains and, eventually, river flooding. This threat of flooding from a suddenly warmer and very wet weather pattern (with several atmospheric rivers possible) will continue through next week.

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