Snow is expected this weekend, with mixed rain/snow on Saturday in downtown Seattle. Pure snow showers start early Sunday morning through Monday night, with a possible accumulation of less than half an inch every 12 hours. Tuesday through Thursday have a chance of snow showers. Lynnwood is similar. Boeing Field may get an inch Saturday evening. There’s a lot of uncertainty about how much snow there will be in the lowlands.

The National Weather Service has forecasts for each city. In each one there’s a “Forecast Discussion” link in the bottom left section with a long explanation. These are usually easy to read, although the one Friday evening is cryptic. Cliff Mass‘s weather blog has a detailed play-by-play and model images of the next few days. The Seattle Times ($) and King 5 have coverage.

Metro

King County Metro has a winter guide, a snow routes page, and the Emergency Snow Network (ESN) map. Note that Metro has three levels of service depending on the severity: regular service, snow routes, and the ESN. Some routes may be on snow routes while others are on regular service.

This is the first winter since RapidRide G launched, so let’s take a look at what First Hill would be like if Metro switches to snow routes. The G will not run during snow. Instead Route 90, the First Hill Snow Shuttle, will be activated. If conditions get severe and Metro switches to the ESN, the only east-west routes on First Hill and Capitol Hill will be the 3, 10, and 90. North-south service will continue to be provided by the 60 and 48.

Other Agencies

Sound Transit winter page. Link and Sounder will run on regular schedule. (EDIT: Link has a planned weekend reduction, see the first comment.) ST Express routes may switch to snow routes at any time, or special routing and stop closures if necessary. Sound Transit recommends signing up for alerts on the routes you use to get the latest information.

Community Transit snow service. CT’s snow route maps simply mark orange segments “the route will not serve”; it doesn’t specify the alternate path. Swift Blue has orange at both ends: from Shoreline North Station to Aurora Village, and from Everett Station to Colby/Wetmore. Swift Orange will not serve the Alderwood Mall area or Dumas Road. Other routes have similar orange segments. Again, sign up for alerts for the routes you care about.

Pierce Transit extreme weather. PT has a handy snow brochure with maps of the snow detours for all affected routes in one place.

Photo and Route 90 map credit: Metro.

36 Replies to “First Snow of 2025”

  2. Once again there have been calls to delay this weekend’s scheduled Link service interruption to repair the catenary at UW Station.

    Why? Because of the predicted snow “storm”.

    The argument was that Link is this region’s only real transportation mode that is effectively 100% immune from the effects of snow, so having it shutdown for scheduled maintenance during a predicted snowstorm is inappropriate.

    I tend to agree with this line of thinking. Link is the ONLY local transportation mode that is unaffected by snow. And this region is famous for its inability to deal with snow. During snow storms having Link fully operational is a huge asset to those who need to travel.

    However, it looks like this snowstorm is pretty much a nothing burger anyways. My weather app is now saying maybe just a short pulse of snow ant about 5 am on Sunday, but with an ambient temperature of 35 F. That is not a real snow storm.

    So I applaud ST for not listening to these people and instead proceeding with the scheduled repairs. Time to get it fixed.

    1. Have there been snow impacts to Amtrak, Sounder, the monorail, the streetcars (including Tacoma’s), and Washington State Ferries?

      Are you sure Link has never had a blockage during a snowstorm?

      1. We don’t have snow storms here! A couple inches every couple years. It’s not actually the amount of snow that’s the problem around here it’s the areas reaction to snow in general.

      2. The biggest problem here is the temperature hovers right around the freezing point, so you get freeze/thaw cycles that create layers of slippery ice. It’s not really the snow that’s the problem; it’s the ice.

    2. When Nathan reminded me of the maintenance, my first thought was what if the connector buses get stuck or people are waiting for them for hours? It makes a big hit in connectivity if you can’t take Link seamlessly from Lynnwood to downtown and beyond. There’s the 10-15 minute wait for a connector bus and then again for the train, and unplanned bus delays beyond that. So I leaned toward postponing the reduction. What your weather app says NOW wasn’t known yesterday, and we still don’t know what tomorrow will be like, even if your app predicts something in particular.

    3. Link has been performing well in past snowstorms. There was concern about freezing tracks maybe hindering it, but that hasn’t been an issue that I’ve heard.

      1. I think it is the overhead catenary lines (https://seattletransitblog.com/2012/01/20/rail-outperforms-but-not-immune-to-ice/). But this is rare, as they have special trains to knock the ice off. As that article points out, nothing is immune. I’m not sure how Link or are trolleys would handle a large power outage for example. I could see how an earthquake could shutdown Link but leave most of the roads OK. But I could also see the opposite or both being shut down.

      2. @Mike Orr,

        It’s not the tracks that are usually the issue. It’s the switch points. Snow and ice can hinder the ability for switches to work properly, but minor snow storms like Seattle gets rarely cause that issue. And ST knows how to handle it anyhow.

        A bigger issue for Link is road vehicles getting stuck in the snow and blocking the tracks. Particularly buses and trucks which are harder to clear.

        But Link is mainly grade separated. So that problem hasn’t really manifested itself in the past.

        Ice storms are a somewhat different t beast. But they are pretty darn rare around here. And again, the issue is known and planned for.

    4. I agree that it is unlikely we will get much snow accumulation. But snow forecasting is extremely tricky around here so you never know. It is possible that there will be a convergence zone which leads to higher accumulations in a few areas. It is going to stay cold into early next week so ice (in the mornings) is probably the bigger threat. Not only could this cause collisions, but folks need to be careful walking around.

      Cliff Mass has a pretty good rundown: https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-coldsnowy-period-reveals-itself.html. For more up to date info I like to look at the UW forecast discussion: https://a.atmos.washington.edu/data/disc_report.html. This gets published twice a day, typically (to go along with the forecast).

      1. That’s the same forecast discussion from the weather service site, but without links to glossary entries for technical terms.

  4. There will never be 10k Snohomish County transit commuters stuck in buses on I-5 overnight again. Who knew that it would be because there would never be that many riding again, since most of them no longer work in Seattle?

    The nightly drop to 12-minute headway on the 1 Line at 5:30 pm, and current ridership numbers, suggest there is no reason to continue having ST Express 515 going all the way to Lynnwood. That bus becomes even more contraindicated during snow events.

    Likewise, ST may as well go ahead and truncate ST Express 510 at Lynnwood Station, without waiting for the Great Conjunction… especially during snow events. Everett riders also have 4 Sounder runs now.

    1. King County Metro also ought to cancel the 303 during snow events. There is no reason to get those riders stuck on I-5.

      Add to that list ST Express 545, which could get re-routed to start at UW Station, but run it as extra 542 service.

      1. Yeah, there should be some buses that don’t have a “snow route” but are simply canceled when other uses are on their snow route. This is before you reach the level of the ESN (which requires a lot of snow). There should be a notice on the page saying “This route may be canceled if there is snow.”. The buses can then be shifted to places where they are needed.

    2. A few days of redundant expresses or routes doesn’t make much difference in the budget. It’s the week-after-week reduncancy for the whole year that adds up.

      1. It’s not about the budget. It’s about dealing with the fact that some bus drivers might not be able to make it into work that day, and prioritizing the drivers you have for the routes that do the most good.

      2. Yes, and some buses are stuck or can’t operate (because they are trolleys and trouble getting up the hills).

  5. It’s going to be interesting to see if the G Line is cancelled before any snow or ice actually begins. Will they close down the entire route at just the expectation of some snow?

    1. I would assume it could handle the snow better than the trolleys so I doubt it. I guess the turn on First is a problem, but I think as long as the drivers are careful it should be fine. The only major difference between the G and other buses is that it doesn’t have a unique snow route. As mentioned above, other buses should be like that. There are three levels as I see it:

      1) Normal operation
      2) Buses operating on snow routes. The G (and other buses) should simply be cancelled. Other buses (operating on snow routes) cover for them.
      3) Emergency Snow Operations. Similar to above but even more buses stop running and there is a special “Snow Shuttle” route (the 90).

    2. The 90 starts as soon as there’s any disruption to regular First Hill routes. It doesn’t wait for the ESN.

      2. Reading the King County Metro website, I can’t find a schedule for route 90. This begs the question of, when route 90 is activated, how does one find out when it comes? Will the announcement provide a schedule that varies storm by storm, or are you just supposed to stand at the bus stop for as long as it takes before the bus shows up?

        Ideally, route 90 would also have real time tracking on OneBusAway, but because the route is so temporary, my guess is that it doesn’t.

        Without the ability to know when the bus is going to come, and the service area being only a couple miles long, it seems like you’d likely get where you’re going faster by breaking out the heavy coat, hiking boots and microspikes, and simply walking all the way. At least walking provides some exercise to warm you up, whereas standing at a bus stop in freezing weather can get very cold, very fast.

      3. It has no schedule. When the route is active Metro can’t predict what the delays from the roads will be, so it comes whenever it comes. That’s what all routes get like when conditions get severe or under the ESN. Metro doubtless has a target frequency in mind to determine the number of buses, and the target is probably similar to regular service, but there’s no guarantee. The 90 overlaps with other routes on 3rd Avenue and Jackson Street, Pine Street, 23rd, and at transfer points, so you might be able to take the first one that comes. Usually it’s best to take the first bus that comes even if it’s not the closest route to your destination and you can walk the rest of the way, because there may be a long delay until another bus comess. The 90 gives an extra alternative to allow these kinds of choices.

      4. In past snows I’ve been walking up Pine Street from 1st to 14th (the flattest east-west stretch in Capitol Hill/First Hill) or I’m walking around in the Pike-Pine area, and I see the 90 more than once. So it appears to be running every 10-15 minutes or so; I haven’t timed it.

      5. It would still be good to know that the target frequency is every 10-15 minutes vs. once an hour.

        This is also a situation where real-time arrival info on OneBusAway is especially important. Yes, I know that the fact that it’s a temporary snow route might create some headaches for the software engineers. But, from the passenger’s perspective, snow days are when the potential for delays is greatest, so that is precisely when knowing the real-time location of the bus is most useful. In the case of route 90, a functional OneBusWay could allow people to make an informed decision whether to wait for the bus or to walk.

  6. Snow is starting now in central Seattle, falling pretty strongly and slushy. It remains to be seen if it’s a short shower.

    2. Metro Satuday 3pm: “Snow is falling in some areas of King County, but Metro buses are currently able to operate on their regular routes. ”

      The morning slushfall was a brief shower.

  7. Everyone, beware of slippery frost on the ground. I saw it Thursday in a gutter runoff. Bridge and overpass sidewalks are usually the worst for slipperiness.

    2. It seems Metro hasn’t updated it since before the Lynnwood restructure. Still, is there any major route that should be there that isn’t? I can see the 61 might be suspended since the 45 is running on 85th, and there must be some Lake City-Northgate route even if it’s not the exact one then. One inconsistency is the C terminates at the Junction, but I thought I read on another page there would be a C shuttle the rest of the way to Fauntleroy. It does have RapidRide H, so it’s not that old.

      What surprises me is it seems like there are two or three times as many routes as I remember from the first or second ESN instance. I wouldn’t have expected so many in north Seattle; it looks like close to normal service.

      The page Sam found has multiple panels for the Metro subareas; the switcher is in the top right. The Eastside list is missing RapidRide B, which moves to Bel-Red Road during snow (I’ve ridden it to 124th). And the map seems ancient or schizophrenic: it has the 253 on Bel-Red Road, but the 253 ended when the B was created. And what’s that about peak/off-peak? That must go out the window when the ESN is active and 90% of the riders disappear. So I’d say that page is inconsistent and in disarray and is not worth looking at.

      So it looks like Metro isn’t fully prepared for the next ESN, at least in terms of communicating what all the current routes will be. Of course, it’s a separate network, so one could say it has a right to use old numbers if it wants to, and maybe Metro actually would operate it that way until the network is updated again.

    3. If the ESN was created in the aftermath of the blizzard in 2008, when Mayor Nickels was ousted, SDOT started plowing and salting the roads more, and SDOT coordinated with Metro so that the snow-route streets would coincide with the plowed streets, and the ESN was created to have a well-known list of minimal routes that Metro would support in severe conditions. RapidRide B started in 2011. So the ESN may have started between those years, and Sam’s map may be the first ESN map, from before the B was created.

Comments are closed.