Over 700 crashes reported in Seattle area amid arctic blast
Washington State Patrol troopers responded to over 500 crashes along freeways and state highways, and that's by far an undercount for crashes across all roads in the region.
Nearly 600 incidents on Washington roadways: state troopers
Washington state troopers say they’ve worked nearly 600 incidents on the roadways since snow began to fall. Some serious collisions have occurred and many motorists have been stranded.
SEATTLE -- Several inches of snow and then temperatures dropping well below freezing Sunday led to hundreds of crashes on slick roads around Seattle and Western Washington.
Washington State Patrol troopers responded to over 700 crashes along freeways and state highways, and that's by far an undercount for crashes across all roads in the region.
In King County, which houses the Seattle and Bellevue metro areas and several suburbs, troopers responded to 184 crashes on Sunday alone, along with 615 additional calls for assistance, such as helping cars stuck on the roads or spun out, according to Trooper Rick Johnson.
One of those crashes involved a State Patrol vehicle, which was rear-ended on a snowy Interstate 5 in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila. He wasn't seriously injured.
A Washington State Patrol trooper was rear-ended on I-5 in Tukwila, Wash. on Dec. 26, 2021.
(Washington State Patrol)
In Pierce and Thurston Counties, which are home to Tacoma and state capitol Olympia, troopers helped 166 crashes on Sunday and then an additional 70 on Monday, according to Trooper Robert Reyer.
North of Seattle, including the Everett area and Whatcom County where some heavier snow totals were found, troopers responded to 264 crashes over the holiday weekend, according to Trooper Jacob Kennett.
West of Seattle, over in on the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas, troopers were busy clearing 89 snow and ice-related crashes, according to Trooper Katherine Weatherwax.
These numbers don't include a count of accident responses by local city and county police agencies.
Snowfall generally ranged from 2-8 inches around the Puget Sound region with close to a foot of snow toward the Canadian border and on the northern Olympic Peninsula. Temperatures dropped into the 20s and teens after the snow began Sunday and remained well below freezing through the day Monday.
After dropping to 17 degrees Monday morning, Seattle only reached a high of 23 degrees Monday afternoon, making it the coldest high temperature since Dec. 1990.
Temperatures were expected to remain well-below freezing through into Wednesday and troopers were pleading with drivers to increase following distances and reduce speeds.