Marathon snowfall tapers off as warm air arrives; rain expected by Monday
The region’s marathon snow dump began to taper off Sunday as warm air moved up from the south, and the National Weather Service was predicting rain by Monday.
Accumulations of snow reached 8 to 10 inches in places around Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula during a gentle but persistent snowfall that began Friday evening and continued through Saturday and into Sunday morning.
Mayor Kit Kuhn said Saturday he has seen nearly ten inches of snow. He asked residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.
“People should not be driving if they don’t have to,” Kuhn said. “It’s supposed to lighten up this afternoon and then slowly get warmer so I think we’ll be okay.”
Ken Andrews, the operations chief for the city, said Saturday progress was being made on clearing the roads.
“We were losing ground last night but we made it up this morning,” Andrews said. “It seems like it is warming up a little bit so that will help with getting rid of it too.”
Andrews said they are following the city’s map in order to clear the roads for emergency vehicles. A map of snowplow routes is available on the city website and at the bottom of this story.
“Stinson, Rosedale, all that stuff, Pioneer, we kept them pretty well open,” Andrews said. “The sledders, they didn’t like us too much.”
Andrews echoed the plea from the mayor for people to stay off the roads as much as possible.
“Boy, that would sure be nice and it would really help us out,” Andrews said. “We’re dodging vehicles so if we could get that out there, that’d be nice.”
Andrews also shared in the optimism that the weather will soon be on their side.
“Snow should end about four o’clock and that will give us a little time to get caught up on it,” Andrews said. “Sunday is supposed to be a little bit warmer.”
Trooper Ryan Burke, the public information officer for the Washington State Patrol in Pierce County, says that all lanes on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge currently remain open.
“There have been a few crashes here and there on 16 today but nothing severe,” Burke said. “They called DOT to put some product down, but all lanes on the bridge are open right now.”
Less snow in forecast
A winter storm warning remained in effect until 4 p.m. Saturday, but was replaced with a forecast predicting snow tapering off during the evening and overnight.
Rain is expected by Monday afternoon and evening as temperatures recover into the low 40s. There is a threat of sleet and freezing rain Sunday evening and night, particular in the lower Cascades.
Tina Curran, public information officer for Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One, said Saturday she has seen upwards of nine inches at her home, though there have been few emergency calls.
“Thankfully, we had a lot of good predictive ability with the forecast,” Curran said. “All the rigs are chained up and when they do go out on calls, they have that technology. Overall, thankfully, things have been pretty quiet. Seems like everybody’s good sense is to stay off the roads. We have certainly had a couple run of the mill average medical calls that one would expect. “
Highway 16 tricky
Gig Harbor fire units and Washington State Patrol troopers were busy on State Route 16 with a number of accidents between Bunham Drive and the Narrows Bridge, but none involved serious injuries.
Curran said there haven’t been any fires or downed power lines though that may change as the snow gets heavier on trees.
“”When the snow gets heavier, the branches will get heavier and they’re going to start coming down over power lines,” Curran said. “We’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
An additional precaution, Curran said, the department has staffed station 53 on Fox Island, which is normally a volunteer station, in order to shorten response times.
“We’ve had our maintenance guys snowplowing all night, all the station parking lot areas so we can get out more quickly,” Curran said. “So far, things have been nice and quiet and we’re doing well, just sort of standing by.”
Curran stressed that staying home and off the roads still remains the best course of action to take in order to avoid slowing response times.
“We’ve had incidents in the past, like last ‘snowmageddon,’ where our engines were trying to get to emergency call and there were just cars all over the roads,” Curran said. “It makes for dicey driving conditions at times, so really just staying off the roads is key.”
Some businesses are staying open in Gig Harbor, such as Galaxy Theatres, which just recently opened to resume showing movies.
Manager Kim May said it was just her luck that so soon after opening their doors that the city was hit by a snowstorm.
“There is just me and like one other person that I managed to go pick up in my four-wheel drive vehicle and we’re going to open the building alone,” May said with a laugh.
May said they still have 139 tickets sold for today’s showings of new movies like Robin Wright’s Land and Wonder Woman 1984.
“We have like nine inches right now, at least,” May said. “We went out with a tape measure and it’s like nine inches in the middle of the road though it has already been plowed so I would imagine it is actually closer to a foot.”
May said that the theater has been seeing positive returns so they are “clear to stay open for at least another two weeks.”
The outage map for Peninsula Light is currently showing no outages in the Gig Harbor area save for a handful by the airport. You can view that at https://outages.penlightop.org/#viewer-menu-parent
In the event of an outage, the NWS recommends taking these steps:
- Only use generators outdoors and keep away from windows.
- If you’re using portable heaters, keep them away from furniture, curtains, and other flammable materials.
- Never use a natural gas range for heating or charcoal as an indoor heating or cooking source.
- Disconnect appliance and electronics to avoid damage from electrial surges.
- Have alternate plans for refigerating medicines or using power-dependent medical devices.
- Check on your neighbors.
- Always use flashlights instead of candles.
- Keep freezers and refrigerators closed. Throw out perishable food.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Reach Chase Hutchinson at chase.hutchinson@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 10:50 AM.
