Snowmageddon, 2019

It's winter in Indiana.  Snow is expected to happen.
It's also winter in Washington.  Snow is fairly rare there.  The average annual snowfall for the Seattle area where my daughter and family live is three inches.  It usually arrives in dribs and drabs, then melts and can refreeze into "black ice" in 24 hours or less.
Most of their winter precipitation is in the form of rain, and plenty of it.  Until now.

Last Sunday, the Weather Gods delivered six inches of white stuff to the Seattle area.  It basically shut everything down.  Why?  They aren't used to it.  They don't know how to drive in it.  They don't have enough snow removal equipment to make the roads much better than slick.  The real challenge, however, is that the terrain is hilly.  (That might be putting it mildly.)  Driving up or downhill on unplowed streets, or streets that have been reduced to ice by traffic or freezing rain that often follows snow out there is risky.  Schools and churches closed.  Deliveries were suspended.  It took the better part of the week just to seem normal again.

Then comes the one-two punch: another round of heavy snow is forecast and starting to happen in the Seattle area, even though there has been no thaw of the previous round.  In anticipation of it, a "state of emergency" is called.  People are encouraged to stock up and hunker down.  They took heed and hit the grocery stores with fervor.  The result is that stores--BIG stores, like Walmart and Costco and Fred Meyer--have been picked clean.  My daughter has sent me picture after picture after picture of totally empty store shelves.  People are posting on Facebook, asking where they can find milk or eggs.  It's insane!

Washington residents are tired of hearing from Midwesterners about what weenies they are about driving in bad weather conditions.  I don't blame them!  My daughter and family live on a hill.  Last winter when I was visiting, they had a three-inch snowfall one night, and "we" ended up taking in a couple of women who were just too frightened to continue down the hill.  They parked their vehicle near the house and so were invited to come in to keep warm while they waited for a husband with better tires to come and rescue them.  My daughter loaned the elder woman her boots (which were returned the next day).  It was both fun and terrifying.

And so, tonight, Snowmageddon is happening in Seattle.  Only time will tell how things will turn out.  Fortunately, my daughter was able to do her grocery shopping a day before the really big rush hit, and everyone is home and safe.  For the moment, it seems that the only casualty of the day is the box of Girl Scout cookies that I sent.  They haven't arrived yet, and if they don't get there tonight, it might be a number of days before they do.

Stay strong, Seattle.  If winter comes, can spring be far behind??