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Sunday, November 26, 2006

It’s Snowing In Seattle

posted by on November 26 at 18:57 PM

Snow1.jpg

Doesn’t it seem kind of early for this? Usually Seattle gets its one or two days of snow sometime in early February, not late November. But whatever: It sure is pretty outside, huh?

The kids on our block are running up and down the street, having a snowball fight. They’re tossing snowballs at any cars that drive down the street too. We used to do that in Chicago, where I grew up, and where angry drivers would jump out of their cars and chase us through the gangways between the apartment buildings on our block. No drivers are jumping out of their cars on block tonight—they seem almost amused, these Seattle drivers, by the snowballs hitting their vehicles.

RSS icon Comments

1

Don't forget to put a chair out front to reserve your parking spot after you dig your car out in the morning.

Posted by PA Native | November 26, 2006 7:13 PM
2

Of course. It hardly ever snows around here and we all know it will melt in a day so we enjoy it while we can. The last time it snowed in any significant way was in 1996.

Posted by It's snowing | November 26, 2006 7:14 PM
3

I moved to Seattle in the summer of '02, and was told by co-workers that it hadn't snowed for about 7 years. All I know for sure is that since I've moved here, it has snowed at least once each winter.

And Dan, it was almost this exact date that it started snowing last year, because it snowed on Dec. 1st (as I was moving into a new apt) for the 2nd time that winter!

Posted by me | November 26, 2006 7:31 PM
4

Great. I visit my family here in gross, hot, humid Hawaii and it snows while I'm gone. Fuck you, Mother Nature!

Posted by Damien | November 26, 2006 7:35 PM
5

Dan,
We used to chuck snowballs at the cars in suburban D.C. too ... and the drivers would stop...get out of their cars...and chase us into the backyards. Luckily, we knew the nooks & crannies of the backyards and could disappear pretty quickly.

Posted by Josh Feit | November 26, 2006 7:51 PM
6

it snowed and is still snowing here in Vancouver Canada ok no jokes about how it is Canada of course you have snow. Vancouver has that same climate as Seattle. In my neighborhood (Strathcona) this weekend we are having our annual cultural walk. Artists open their doors so people can come in and view their work, have some wine or hot chocolate. So it has been a weekend of people walking in the snow with their info maps viewing art and meeting other artists and friends.
There is a Russian cultural centre down the street so I went in and they had a full on banquet of Borsht perogies and other Russian home made food. It was a perfect way to go get lunch. I walked past kids building snowmen while it showed and even before I go to the door of the Russian center I could smell the food. Perfect food for a day with snow.

Posted by Brian | November 26, 2006 7:53 PM
7

we used to use shovels to make knee-high snow berms across the street and then hide in the bushes and watch cars plow into them. p.s. any seattleite who has never whipped donuts in an empty snow covered parking lot... i highly recommend it.

Posted by Charles | November 26, 2006 8:05 PM
8

west seattle is a winter wonderland right now, with all the lovely admiral district homes bedecked with christmas lights, all reflected by the blanket of white.

seattle is great when it snows. i love the way a mere dusting will bring the city to its knees. and, it is an excellent time to break out that flask, fill it with jameson, and go for a walk.

Posted by kerri harrop | November 26, 2006 8:15 PM
9

We used to throw snowballs at cars, and the drivers would stop, get out, curse, and chase us. Maybe it was because we put rocks in the snowballs.

Good times.

Posted by Bart | November 26, 2006 8:27 PM
10

Seattle drivers, like their city, are so lame! I can't imagine why one day of being pelted with snowballs per year would provoke a different reaction than Chicago drivers of the '70s who endured several months of snowball assaults.

Posted by nostalgia drills | November 26, 2006 8:39 PM
11

Nostalgia, Darling - you are right. We are SO LAME (thank you for that "retro" term. It's right in keeping with your "handle")

That's why you should go right back to where you came from. We don't want to drag you down. Hurry now - skedaddle out of here, and don't look back. We don't want to tarnish you any more than we already have.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | November 26, 2006 8:57 PM
12

Naturally, I just saw on tv that school has been cancelled tomorrow in many areas. I've never lived anywhere else where schools get cancelled so quickly!

I can only hope that this lasts. I'd be thrilled if we had a real snowstorm comparable to 1996.

Posted by genevieve | November 26, 2006 9:48 PM
13

I don't know what Damien is talking about. Today was a beautiful day in Hawaii. Sunny, a couple of clouds, 80 degrees and a light breeze. I'll take that over snow any day! (But I am looking forward to Christmas in New York.)

Posted by Dianna | November 26, 2006 9:57 PM
14

Genevieve, I grew up in New Mexico, and until I was a sophomore in high school, we had a superintendent from Arizona. If it snowed half an inch, we had a snow day, which made sense, considering we got snow so rarely and became instantly retarded when it fell.

Then he got replaced with that fucker from Fairbanks...

Posted by Gitai | November 26, 2006 10:34 PM
15

So Brian already made a reference to the Canadian weather jokes having a grain of truth - I live in Edmonton, Alberta and we've had snow for weeks! By this point I have shovelled about two feet of snow off my driveway. More is coming and it probably won't melt til March. The temperature right now here is -23 Celsius but with the windchill it's really -34 Celsius...that's about -29 Fahrenheit.

I think Canada is a great country and I have lived with this weather all my life, but for the past few days all I can think is that it is COMPLETE ASS and that I am going to move somewhere warmer, like Vancouver, B.C.

The worst part about getting this much snow and cold is that you know it won't get better for about four months.

Posted by Rielle | November 26, 2006 10:51 PM
16

The best thing about this kind of weather (in Vancouver) is that it won't last more than a week. Although it is supposed to get pretty cold over the next couple of days. Might have to break out the touque.

I was actually just out taking pictures of the snow, I would have never done that when I lived in Calgary.

Posted by Erin | November 26, 2006 11:06 PM
17

Everyone keeps going on about 1996, but they forget the 6 inches the first week of January 2004, or the 8 inches in February 2001.

All things considered, I'd prefer either one to 1996. '96 was 6-10" of snow that was completely gone within 24 hours thanks to another 3 inches of rain. Sinkholes. Rich houses sliding off Magnolia into the Sound. My basement apartment turning into Venice.

And yes, people around here are trigger-happy about closing things during snow, but considering in a normal winter it snows in the lowlands once a year, can you blame them?

Posted by dw | November 26, 2006 11:45 PM
18

I spoke with my friend Em in Lynnwood today who was talking about the drivers in the snow being dumb asses. She's from Alaska and they know how to deal with tons of snow there. Em was kinda pissed about the snow and possibly missing work.
My mother actually called me from Renton to tell me that it was snowing, she was so excited about it.
It's funny how people react to the weather. Especially in Seattle where anything-but-rain takes you completely by surprise. Like, "The mountain is out" on sunny clear days and this snow discussion. :)

Posted by Dee in SF | November 27, 2006 12:06 AM
19

awe, snow brings a community together.

Posted by catnextdoor | November 27, 2006 12:10 AM
20

do i miss chicago snow ?
HELLTOTHEMUTHAFUCKINNAW !..
winter was half the reason i left (summer humidity was the other reason). they had snow days in chicago when it snowed like 80 feet but you still hadda walk and drive and work and go to school in it. and cold ? judas h. priest !!! when i left chicago in 1978 it was after the winter where the windchill was like 60 degrees BELOW zero. and like lou rawls sang in that song they call the wind 'the hawk'. swooping down on you and going underneath your clothes. people die by the hundreds in that weather. they die in they apartments. some freeze, some suffocate, and they have power failures. no lights, no heat, no nothin. that last winter, i had my scarlett o hara moment where i balled up my blue black fist and yelled at the sky ' as god is my witness..i'll NEVER BE COLD AGIN!'

Posted by riz | November 27, 2006 12:24 AM
21

Dianna, what I meant was that I've always hated the weather in Hawaii. I was born and raised here (I know, poor poor me) but always felt like I belonged in the Pacific Northwest. Ever since I saw the Goonies I couldn't wait to move. Sure, I was used to the weather in Hawaii but I never liked it. It always felt hot and humid and disgusting to me. Can't wait to get (home) to Seattle, hopefully it'll snow again.

Posted by Damien | November 27, 2006 4:48 AM
22

Hey Riz, bad luck. It's going to be in the 60s most of this week in Chicago.

I've got my lawn furniture ready, though.

ps- We used to put beer bottles we'd found under piles of leaves in the middle of the street. Kids are total jerks.

Posted by Brie | November 27, 2006 7:18 AM
23

I used to throw snow balls at cars and the drivers would chase me. Never got caught. Did anybody ever get caught? Were the drivers in on the game and knew it was more fun to be chased? Should I chase kids now for the same reason? If I did, they would throw my Iranian ass in Git-mo.

Posted by Baharam | November 27, 2006 8:57 AM
24

We used to throw snowballs at cars, and then run like hell when they stopped and chased us, right here in Seattle. Come to think of it, though, the ringleader was a kid named Patrick, and he may well have been from Chicago. This is how the corruption spreads across the country. If you know anyone named Patrick, go throw a snowball at him right now.

Posted by Fnarf | November 27, 2006 9:51 AM
25

When I was a kid, actually, the Thanksgiving snow storm/flurry/drizzle was a tradition. Then again, it used to snow a more then.

Posted by blueroom | November 27, 2006 2:01 PM
26

My childhood impressions (from the '80s) were that whenever we got snow in Seattle it was usually either late November or February. For some reason I'm remembering that it often seemed to snow around Presidents Day. February was more common, but November snow was not uncommon.

I always wanted it to snow around Christmas, but it never did, until '96, when I guess all my childhood wishing for a white christmas came down at once.

Posted by Amanda | November 27, 2006 3:03 PM
27

My favorite Seattle snow was the blizzard of '91 or '92. I was in the 2nd grade taking the city bus home and got stuck in the International District when I lived up on First Hill. That was a long, cold walk, but the hot chocolate my dad made me was the best I ever tasted.
The next day I built a snowman.

Posted by Enigma | November 27, 2006 3:43 PM
28

Even my snow-hardened mid-western parents (Michigan/Ohio) knew better than to poke fun at Seattle's complete shut-down at the first sign of snow. What other major city that requires traversing such hills ever sees snow?

(Portland SORT OF, but there's relatively flat roads that access most of the major highways there - nothing like Denny, or most of downtown Seattle, for that matter, and their hilltops aren't nearly as densely populated.)

Posted by Dougsf | November 27, 2006 5:42 PM
29

On my eighth birthday it snowed two feet. that must have been the best gift i ever got (besides the laptop)

Posted by dudyfart | December 7, 2006 2:35 PM
30

jonny913

Posted by jonny649 | December 9, 2006 6:50 PM

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