Winter Storm "Maya"

One for the record books. Eight inches so far, and still counting.

                                 Not going anywhere soon...

Oh no, not again

Seattle is bracing for the next winter storm, moving in now from the north. How much snow is anyone's guess, but they're saying 4-8 inches of accumulation overnight and into tomorrow morning. That is pretty scary for Seattle, especially since none of it will melt, it's just too cold.

Forget about finding bread and milk at the grocery store today, the shelves are picked clean. This would all be kind of jolly, but as luck has it, Amanda, Tom and the kids hope to fly out on their Mexican vacation Sunday morning. They have to get over the mountains tomorrow.

And we have some rather expensive ballet tickets for Saturday afternoon. I wonder if we can even make it downtown?  At least it doesn't snow in the tunnel.

Well, there's only so much worrying a person can do, even a self-designated "Manager of the Universe."  What will be will be.  I'll keep you posted.

"And you told us it was Spring?"

My tunnel story

I drove through for the first time today.
It works.
End of story.
Meh.

A frozen Seattle

Another 20 degree morning in Seattle, with the threat of another winter storm hanging over our heads.  The next couple of days will be cold and dry until moisture pushes back in Friday-- the recipe for snow.

They say the next storm will be a repeat of what we just went through, although possibly even worse in terms of the amount of snow and wind. Who knows?  But we do know that the snow won't be "turning to rain" as it typically does here. The cold weather is supposed continue into next week with even more threats of snow.

I can't remember when we've had such a long stretch of freezing weather, and never in February. We're sure to lose some plants, they thought it was spring! I hope my beautiful little olive tree doesn't give up hope.

Sigh. That's about all the news fit for print...

Right back where I started

Cold birds
"What happened?"

Unfortunately, I'm not in Las Vegas having avocado toast with dad this morning. But at least I'm not still camped out on a plastic chair at SeaTac.

It was snowing hard yesterday morning and we left the house extra early for my 8 am flight.  The freeway was covered in snow and ice, but traffic was light. Schools were closed; anyone who had any sense just stayed home.

A bit of a white knuckle drive, but we got to the airport OK. I checked my bag, zipped through security, saw that my flight was still on time.  So far good. Little did I know, I'd just stepped on the conveyor belt of airport misery (with lots of other company.)

After four hours and four gate changes, we finally had a de-iced plane at noon. Ready to go. At least it looked that way. The woo-hoo cheer went up! We're going to Las Vegas!

First class rushed on and the rest of us were waiting in line.  Not so fast, folks. The board suddenly changed, and that plane was going to Minneapolis instead. Our flight was abruptly cancelled.  Still, we were some of the lucky ones, because many people sat trapped in planes for hours before being allowed to get off.

By mid-day the terminal was a sea of humanity, and the Customer Service lines stretched down the concourses. Getting another flight looked hopeless, so I found my suitcase in baggage claim and my personal Uber driver (John) picked me up.  How good it felt to be home, and I felt sorry for the people I met who had no choice but to wait it out.  Many vacations and plans spoiled yesterday.

Last week we were gloating about our mild winter and early spring. Talk about weather karma. This morning it's colder in Seattle than Chicago. 19 degrees to be exact, and it looks like temperatures won't get much above freezing for the next week. 

Snow cats

That's Maya and Nova in Mazama this morning at the 6th annual Methow Valley Ski for Women. The event is open to girls and women of all ages and abilities, and donations benefit Room One, the valley's health and service center. 

Methow Trails Association waives the cross-country trail fees, and this year's theme is "Animal Kingdom."  Amanda said people go all out on costumes and prizes are awarded for creativity. It's a big community winter event for the girls with a good cause. 

Is that the much-traveled "Bun-Bun" hanging out of Maya's coat?  Old "Bun-Bun" has lived through many adventures, including a near death brush with a campfire. Next week "Bun-Bun" is going to Mexico.  More on that later.

Well, the "S" word is in the forecast for Seattle. We're about to get a blast of cold weather coming down from Canada-- nothing like the Polar Vortex, but the coldest we've been all winter.

I love a rare snow day, but as luck would have it, I have a flight to Las Vegas early tomorrow morning.  Hopefully it won't affect the roads or airport, where they have a grand total of one plane deicer.

We get pretty worked up here about a few flurries. It doesn't look like a wide-spread snow event at this point, just showers that might be heavy in places. Hopefully Seattle escapes the worst of it, because tomorrow morning the new tunnel opens for traffic.  If it snows at the same time, that's more excitement than this city can handle.

Sorry, no blog tomorrow morning, but I'll check in from sunny Las Vegas in a couple of days.