The snow closed some businesses; those that were open had a scarcity of customers.
The storm wasn’t a surprise, as forecasters had been tracking it closely for days. However, in the end as it got closer it became apparent that the snow wouldn’t fall as deeply as predicted.
The storm arrived from the south, with deeper snow amounts in south Puget Sound southward.
For many Wednesday was a day of play.
Todd Schlegel of Renton brought his two kids, Mason, 5, and Mira, 7, to Liberty Park for a some sliding at the Skateboard Park.
“The kids have been waiting for it,” Schlegel said of the snow. They started asking about the snow on Tuesday. The snow was turning to a freezing rain while they were there in the late morning.
City officials are reminding residents that vehicles abandoned because of road conditions can interfere with sanding truck operations and create dangerous road conditions.
The city’s Public Works crews are asking the public for its help to remove abandoned or damaged vehicles from roadways as soon as possible in order to better assist them and reduce the risk for other drivers.
Cars that impede sanding trucks that are applying sand, chemicals, and providing other snow removal measures will be towed.
All garbage, recycling and yard/food waste had been collected in the city through Tuesday, according to city spokeswoman, Preeti Shridhar. Waste Management is not providing any service on Wednesday.
Yard and food waste not collected on regular days later in the week will be collected on the next regularly scheduled collection day the week of Jan. 23.
If garbage and recycling collection is missed due to the weather on either Thursday or Friday, the collection day will be one day later than the normal collection day, according to Shridhar.
The National Weather Services online forecast map of Western Washington was awash in a dark pink, the signal for a winter storm warning.
It seemed incongruous, since on Tuesday, at least parts of region were enjoying a sunny afternoon.
Snoqualmie Pass was closed repeatedly during the week as storms dumped snow there, raising the threat of avalanche.
Renton got a warmup for the big snow, when lesser amounts fell over the three-day weekend and into Monday.
Facing a cold night in the upper 20s, twenty-four people signed up to stay at the cold-weather shelter Monday night. Initially, the shelter was to open only Monday and Tuesday, but faced with Wednesday’s storm, it was open Wednesday and Thursday, too.
The shelter is the Harambee Church, 316 S. Third St. in Renton. The church provides separate areas for men and women and families.
Local, county and state crews spent the week either preparing for the storm or dealing with the snow once it began to fall. Renton is home to the county’s maintenance shops, from where sand, de-icing chemicals and heavy equipment are dispatched.
Wednesday’s storm wasn’t the last of the unsettled and intense weather that Ol’ Man Winter had planned for the region.
The snow was forecast to turn to rain on Thursday, with rain only on Friday. Highs will reach into the mid-40s Friday and into the weekend, with the lows to high for more snow.
The storms this week forced changes to commuter habits and bus routes. Metro Transit has updated route information online at metro.kingcounty.gov.
