With snow forecast for many parts of King County beginning Monday morning, make sure you have a plan for your commute and for your family, and expect slushy or icy road conditions for the Monday morning commute.

King County is currently under a Winter Weather Advisory until noon Monday which means that periods of snow could cause traffic difficulties. The Advisory will be elevated up to a Winter Storm Warning for Monday afternoon through late Monday night which means that there is potential for snow, sleet or ice accumulations to impact travel.

Intermittent snow showers are occurring throughout the region with trace amounts up to 2 inches possible above 500 feet. Snow accumulation may be possible up to 4 inches from North Seattle to Everett and eastward on Monday night with snow levels falling to sea level. The Puget Sound Convergence Zone is the most likely area to experience snow accumulation.

Please let safety be your guide when making commute decisions. Where allowed, employees may be able to telecommute or take a day of accrued vacation or comp time instead of reporting to their normal work location today. Check with your supervisor for more information. First responders and other mission critical staff are expected to report to their work location as usual. This includes, but is not limited to, corrections officers, 9-1-1 call center operators, emergency personnel, security staff, and certain senior managers. If you are not sure of your designation, please contact your supervisor.

Make a plan to take care of your kids as some schools may close early while you are at work, or open late or not at all. When schools are closed and King County operations remain open, employees are expected to report to work as usual, or follow applicable personnel policies

HR Policies: When an agency remains open, but conditions prevent you from reporting to work on time, notify your supervisor as soon as possible. You may request leave, subject to approval by your supervisor. If you have no leave accrued, your supervisor may approve leave without pay to cover absences. Sick leave may not be used. Refer to HR Bulletin 2011-0009 County Operations During Emergency Situations and Inclement Weather.

Stay Informed: During an emergency make sure you’re getting the latest King County information on how you are affected, at work and at home:

• Call the Employee Hotline—206-205-8600 (save it in your phone now!).

• Check your King County email.
• Go to www.kcemployees.com.
• Contact your supervisor.
• Follow King County on Twitter—@kcemployees, @kcnews, and @kcmetrobus.
• Check your agency website or Intranet (if applicable), and monitor local media channels.
• Visit the Emergency News page at www.kcemergency.com for regional impacts.

Superior Court employees: Information will be provided on the Superior Court website, or by calling the following hotlines for recorded updates on the status of work locations.

• Seattle courthouse/NJB employees: 206-205-6747
• MRJC courthouse employees: 206-205-6746
• Youth Services Center employees: 206-205-6747

District Court employees: Call the employee Information emergency telephone line at 206-296-6820 for recorded information, or check the District Court website for updates on operational status.

Sheriff’s Office employees: All operations that are staffed on a 24-hour basis, or staffed by commissioned detectives or deputies, are considered essential, and employees scheduled to report to work in these operations are required to report to work despite emergency conditions or closure of other county operations. Refer to the King County Sheriff’s Office Inclement Weather Policy.

Resources for travelers

• Sign up for Metro Transit Alerts (text, email, tweets via @kcmetrobus, see RSS feed via desktop or mobile RSS reader)
• Sign up for King County Road Alerts (text, email, tweets via @kcroads)
• Sign up for King County Water Taxi Alerts (text, email)
• Visit the King County My Commute page
• Visit the Eye on Your Metro Commute (blog during peak weekday commutes).