Pickup Driver Killed In West Side Snowfall New Legislative Session, Rush-Hour Traffic Stalled

Tue., Jan. 13, 1998

Associated Press

A snowstorm with bad timing iced streets across Western Washington on the first day of the work week - and the new legislative session - killing one pickup truck driver and befuddling rush-hour drivers in crowded metropolitan areas.

A 35-year-old Seattle man was killed when his pickup truck slid Monday on icy Washington 599 in Tukwila, south of Seattle, and collided with a tractor-trailer rig, the tate Patrol said. His name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

Snow began falling Monday morning in southwest Washington and moved north through the day. Light snow was falling across much of the state Monday evening, with freezing rain in a few areas.

Some 9 inches of snow was reported in Olympia, some of it from the weekend, with some 6 inches in the Tacoma area. In Seattle, 1 to 3 inches had fallen by Monday night, with 1 to 2 inches in Snohomish County, said National Weather Service forecaster Miles Higa.

The Spokane area was hit with about 1 inch of snow by an evening storm that was coupled with wind gusts of up to 30 mph and temperatures in the single digits. The Weather Service reported a wind chill factor of 6 below zero Monday evening in Spokane. No major problems were reported.

Rush-hour traffic was stop-and-go on all major freeways in the traffic-weary Seattle metropolitan area Monday evening, and drivers slid down hills and crunched into barriers in many minor accidents.

Most Metro buses in the King County area chained up for the afternoon crunch but at least 30 got stuck on the icy streets, Metro officials reported Monday evening.

State legislators had to fight the snow to make it to Monday’s opening day.

Everyone had a favorite war story about getting to Olympia for the start of the 60-day legislative session - although some Eastern Washington lawmakers snickered at how a little snow and ice could put their colleagues in such a tizzy.

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