We have been in a cold weather pattern since Saturday. A low pressure created a trough which pulled cold air down from Alaska and British Columbia. It has pushed the cold down into California.

The forecast was for snow to start as early as late Tuesday night. Wednesday morning – nothing. The Olympics created a snow shadow and no snow. The doppler radars screens were amazing. It had created a doughnut with snow circling around the edges of the Puget Sound.

Everyone was gripping on Wednesday about how the schools had canceled their classes but there was no snow. I feel so sorry for the administrators who have to make a decision at 5:30am on what to do. The best headline was “Seattle paralyzed by chance of snow”.

We kept waiting around but nothing happened. Then it finally started yesterday afternoon around 3pm. It was light small flakes. We got a good coating by the early evening.

It continued this morning. I took the ruler and checked the amount on the deck. We received 2-3 inches. The traffic was a mess. There are many major highways closed and people abandoning vehicles. I am sooooo glad that I do not have to drive in it.

I decided to go out for a walk this afternoon. I bundled up, pulled out the hiking boots, gators to cover the ankles and keep the snow out of my shoes and started out. I was surprised at the amount of people out, both walking and also driving.

First I headed for Chase Lake, a small pond that is behind our house. It is a peat bog and used as a storm runoff area. It was covered with a light coating of ice. Under the bridge there was a small bit of the pond that hadn’t yet started to ice over. Two ducks were swimming around wondering what the hell was going on. A snow plow went by. Cool. I hadn’t seen one in the neighborhood before. It was good to see that Edmonds had one checking the major streets.

I came back and then walked the opposite way. The street goes up hill. The kids were out with their sleds. At the top, was an accident. One truck had slide into a fire hydrant and rock after hitting another truck. Fortunately, it had not caused any water to leak from the hydrant.

Back home, I have been watching the birds in our backyard. We have suet cakes up which attract flickers and woodpeckers. We have two hummingbird feeders and a group of Anna hummingbirds which over winter in our area. We have been bringing them in at night to prevent them from freezing and then put them out in the morning. They are always waiting nearby for the feeder.

Currently it is 27 and snow continues. Here are some pictures from my walk.