Icy in Seattle creates Christmas travel tangle

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It’s not a Hallmark Christmas movie at Sea-Tac International Airport today. Travelers trying to get south from Alaska for the holidays are encountering over one hundred canceled Alaska Airlines flights to Seattle after an ice storm hit western Washington overnight. At 4 a.m., all runways were closed at Seattle-Tacoma, with one runway opening at 6 a.m.

“SEA runways are currently closed indefinitely as we continue to work to de-ice the surfaces. Safety is our priority before we can reopen the runways. Check with your airline for further updates on your specific flight,” the airport posted on Twitter just after 5:10 a.m. One runway out of three opened just before 7 a.m.

“Limited operations will continue to be weather dependent as safety is always our main priority,” the airport said.

FightAware.com, a real-time flight tracker, showed that as of 9:45 am, 477 domestic flights were canceled and another 124 flights were delayed at Sea-Tac. By the time this story was finished three minutes later, the website showed that 480 flights were cancelled, and by the time it was proofread at 9:53 a.m. Pacific time, the cancelled flights were up to 488.

Those hoping to reach Seattle and drive somewhere will encounter roads that are coated with at least one quarter inch of ice, making ice skates a more viable transportation method in Puget Sound. It’s unlikely that drivers will be able to safely navigate the roads to and from the airport, as many roads are blocked by cars that are simply unable to move. Power outages have begun and are expected to continue as the ice brings down trees and limbs over power lines.

15 COMMENTS

  1. Here’s to “global warming’ and looking forward to a New Years filled with woke dysfunctional energy grid shut downs.

  2. Can you just imagine the driving nightmare trying to get off I-5 and go down to the ferry terminal on the waterfront? It’s all downhill.

  3. I wish someone would report on the very poor snow removal here in Anchorage. It been a week since the last snow storm and we still have one lane of snow on most roads.
    I travel all over town hand have not seen one truck or grader removing snow from major roads: Lake Otis is one lane from Tudor to Abbott. Dimond is has the far right lane still full of snow. Spenard is one lane. Northern lights still not open completely.

    Has anyone seen any snow removal or cleanup? I think there is a story here.

    • You haven’t lived here long enough. The plows are working you’re just not seeing them. This city take a lot of plowing and if you can do better then let’s see it. We had a lot of snow with no place to put it so we will have to wait as the snow is trucked out of areas. If you can’t handle it then California would be a good place for you. I can’t be leave all the whining about snow removal. One thing we need to do is contract it out and cut the high salaried city employees.

      • Just a note: Tuesday MOA Roads did full snow removal – graders, blower, dump trucks for Grey Wolf Cir; Timberwolf Cir; and Solarset Cir including the road leading in (Lore west of Spruce). This is a totally obscure neighborhood. Completely out of Public Work’s published snow removal plan. Sure am curious who on the Assembly lives back there. I say this only in context of all the main roads that are down to one way traffic at choke points.

  4. The city and State were not ready for snow due to global warming. Every parking lot has been cleaned. Is there a analogy to be drawn here?

  5. Welcome to climate lockdowns courtesy of the WEFfers (World Economic Forum), your unelected government officials and geoengineering masterminds.

    • Climate lockdowns for most of us. Al Gore, John Kerry and the activist billionaires will be escaping it in their private jets.

  6. The Global Warming narrative is hitting the reality of Mother Nature much as the Covid vaccine narrative hit the reality of excess deaths and the ineffectiveness of the vaccine in preventing the transmission, infection or hospitilization from Covid 19. Sometimes the lies are just too big to hide!

  7. What more proof do people need that “global warming” is a myth! We’ve been lied to! If the globe is warming, why is it so cold every winter?
    We should return to the days when American industry was unhindered by regulation and the EPA. Industry, along with the free market, can effectively self regulate, no government interference needed.
    Trump 2024! Follow the science, unleash our industry! Jobs, growth, America First!

  8. The only place woke kindergarteners allow roads to be built anywhere in the great white Playland is in ANC 80 miles a year. Too bad the kindergartener kings can’t figure it out. It’s written and cherished unwritten public policy. Duh.

  9. Just a mention to the fact that our airport has very seldom ever been shut down for snow or ice. Every time they have a storm in the lower 48, commerce stops. The snow removal at our airport is remarkable and always has been. When’s the last time your flight was canceled out of ANC for snow? These people deserve special recognition, and as well the people plowing our local roads. I once got stuck in NYC for nearly a week over an inch of snow. The entire city, including the airports, were shut down. I easily drove around in my rental car, looking for an open business while the locals freaked out. We should be thankful for the services that we receive. I personally think that they did a great job on this unusual dump of snow.

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