Snow and ice are common in Western Washington during the winter months and the King County Roads Maintenance Section of Local Services has been busily getting ready and preparing for the extreme winter weather season. This fall, the Roads Maintenance Section conducted its annual Snow and Ice Day. Maintenance employees in work units located across the county gathered for a day of training, equipment testing, and team building. The day consisted of training sessions on the proper techniques for attaching and operating plows, guidance on selecting chains and effective installation, proper anti-icer application and the recipe behind it (spoiler: the recipe includes egg whites and beet juice), and touring the various snow routes on unincorporated roads in King County. You can learn more about the day long training on this blog from Local Services.

The Roads Maintenance team are all dedicated and committed to ensuring that our roads remain open and safe, and care deeply about making sure they are keeping people safe in the process. They have been actively working to prepare for the winter season and you can be prepared too. During an extreme weather event, the Roads Maintenance team also counts on community members to be prepared and stay safe.

It is critical for you to be prepared for extreme weather conditions, whether for short trips like running errands in your neighborhood or for longer trips like going skiing or snowboarding at your favorite mountain. You may encounter many different conditions like localized flooding, downed trees/power lines, slides, and snow and ice. We have included some preparation and driving tips below.

Snow and ice driving tips:

• Always keep an emergency kit in your vehicle. Get tips to make an emergency kit here.
• If snow is in the forecast, be sure to connect with your neighbors to coordinate parking on one side of the road or street if possible. This is very helpful to snowplows.
• If you are driving behind a snowplow, always give them ample space. Do not crowd behind them.
• Always use chains when advised.
• Slow down.
• Leave extra room behind vehicles.
• Avoid using cruise control.
• Allow extra time to reach destinations.
• If you see a stop sign down, traffic signal out, a pothole, or any other problem, please contact the Roads Services at the 24/7 Road Helpline at 206-477-8100.    

Rain and flooding are another extreme weather event common in Western Washington during the winter months, otherwise known as the rainy season. The atmospheric river event during the first week of December dumped an impressive amount of rain over King County, with some areas measuring record-breaking daily rain totals. The system left behind flooding in many local area rivers with some cresting to dangerous levels. The Snoqualmie and Tolt Rivers both reached a phase 3 flood alert and were closely monitored during the atmospheric river event.

Just like preparing for snow and ice, it is equally important to prepare for wet driving conditions. During winter it may seem like the rain will never stop so it is essential to know what to do when roads are wet.  We have listed some wet weather driving tips below.

Wet weather driving tips:

• Slow down.
• Allow extra time to reach your destination.
• Turn on headlights.
• Turn off cruise control.
• Watch for water pooling on the roadway.
• Don’t drive or walk through standing water if you can’t tell how deep it is. Follow this rule, “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”
• Don’t ignore or driver around “Road Closed” barricades.

You can see additional wet weather driving tips from the Washington State Department of Transportation.