Evening commute: It's treacherous out there

This morning, I predicted that the Monday evening commute might turn into a repeat of the nightmarish horror of four years ago, when an afternoon snowstorm snarled traffic to a standstill and prevented people from reaching their homes before conditions became extremely hazardous.

It's not yet five o'clock, but already it has become very evident that the going is treacherous. All major highways are jammed, and many major arterials are also hopelessly congested. A summary of major developments:

• A plane (a China Airlines 747) has apparently skidded off the runway at SeaTac, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Not many details are currently available, but emergency response vehicles are on scene.
• The Alaskan Way Viaduct is now shut down in both directions due to extremely hazardous conditions. West Dravus Street between 20th and 27th Avenues is also closed. The West Seattle Bridge remains open... for now.
• A serious collision on SR 99 is blocking southbound traffic from going through the Battery Street Tunnel.
• Transit agencies are advising riders not to use trip planners, because buses are operating on snow routes and won't be making all the usual stops. OneBusAway is also out of commission because the transit agencies can't feed it accurate information.
• King County DOT says it is working around the clock to keep roads passable. A list of closures is available on its website.
• The City of Auburn reports that waste collection is being delayed because the drivers can't finish their routes.
• Numerous cold weather shelters are opening for people who don't have a warm place to spend the night. RPIN has more information.

The forecast is for colder, snowier, windier weather through the rest of the day. The snow is supposed to taper off mid-evening, but then the winds will pick up, reducing visibility and increasing the chance of power outages.

The National Weather Service says:

NORTH WINDS ARE BEGINNING TO INCREASE ACROSS THE NORTH AND CENTRAL SOUND AREA. BY 5 PM THIS EVENING NORTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH AREAS OF SNOW. THIS WILL GENERATE WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE TEENS...BRIEFLY DIPPING INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AS WELL AS CAUSE DRIFTING SNOW. AFTER 5 PM...THE WIND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS THE TEMPERATURES DECREASE. ALSO...AS THE SUN SETS...WET ROADS WILL LIKELY FREEZE OVER THIS EVENING CAUSING VERY SLIPPERY CONDITIONS.

A winter storm warning remains in effect until 10 PM.

POSTSCRIPT: It's now ten o'clock and there is still heavy traffic on Interstate 5. We're hearing reports on Twitter that it took some commuters three or four hours to reach home. Yikes! Many school districts have already announced they won't open at all tomorrow, including Lake Washington, Northshore, Seattle, and Mercer Island, among others. Many libraries are also curtailing their hours. Many municipalities canceled extracurricular activities this evening and are likely to do the same thing tomorrow.

WSDOT is desperately trying to get highways clear for those who have to travel tomorrow and is putting all of its resources into the effort. Via a news release:

WSDOT has a plan for the overnight hours with the snow still falling and temperatures still dropping.

Officials are shifting resources from Whatcom County, where the weather has let up, to Snohomish and King counties where icy roads are still a problem. We are also staggering 12-hour working shifts to get the maximum coverage. The shifting and clearing will continue overnight to focus on the greatest need. WSDOT has more than 100 trucks on the road.

“We continue to hit the priority roads with everything we have: de-icer, anti-icer, plows, loaders, and snow plows. Our goal is to get the roads back in shape before the morning commute,” said Dave McCormick, Assistant Regional Administrator for Operations.

Crews will use the morning hours to restock materials in the maintenance yards as well.

WSDOT also revealed that it set a new all-time traffic record today for its website. There were more than 6.2 million page views by 2:56 PM today, which explains why the site has been unresponsive and unavailable at times.