Road, school update as overnight snow coats lowland Whatcom County
.jpg "Downtown Bellingham, looking north from State and Holly streets, shows a dusting of snow early Thursday, Feb. 24.")
Icy roads could disrupt the evening commute on Thursday, Feb. 24, and early Friday, Feb. 25.
Light snowfall across Whatcom County coated lowland areas with 1 to 2 inches of snow overnight Wednesday, Feb. 23, delaying school starts Thursday morning in several districts, but causing few major problems.
Temperatures warmed toward a forecast high of 41 degrees in Bellingham on Thursday after a three-day cold snap brought near-record lows.
Sunny skies and warmer temperatures were likely to melt much of the snowfall, said meteorologist Dana Felton of the National Weather Service in Seattle.
But roads could get slippery as temperatures fall below freezing overnight Thursday, Felton told The Bellingham Herald.
“If there is any moisture left, it is going to freeze over,” he said.
With Wednesday night’s snow, main streets and roads in Bellingham and rural Whatcom County were plowed but covered in compact snow and ice early Thursday.
Temperatures hovered in the 20s and many streets were slippery.
An inch to 2 inches of snow fell across Whatcom County, starting about 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, but it had stopped by morning and no new accumulations were in the forecast.
Traffic cameras showed that Interstate 5 and Guide Meridian had clear lanes of travel and no backups were reported.
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“It snowed overnight and while not much accumulated with temps below freezing we have slick conditions,” a Thursday morning tweet by WSDOT North said. “Our crews continue to treat. Please be prepared for wintry conditions and allow yourself extra time as you head out today.”
As of shortly before 8 a.m., WSDOT was not reporting any major traffic incidents or problems in Whatcom County on state highways.
But many lesser-traveled streets were not plowed for the morning commute and drivers were urged to use caution.
Schools in Bellingham, Blaine, Lummi Nation, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley started two hours late Thursday because of road conditions.
▪ Bellingham canceled preschool and elementary school early dismissal for the day. Morning and afternoon buses were on snow routes, the district said on its website.
▪ Blaine schools canceled morning preschool and out-of-district transportation, according to an email to The Bellingham Herald.
▪ Mount Baker schools canceled out-of-district transportation, and buses in the Acme and Harmony areas were on snow routes.
▪ Nooksack Valley schools canceled out-of-district transportation Thursday.
▪ Lummi Nation School cited inclement weather, snow and icy road conditions on the district website.
▪ Meridian School District website reported all schools on time Thursday.
▪ Western Washington University was open, officials said in a text message to students and staff. “Parts of campus are icy this morning from snow overnight,” WWU said.
▪ Bellingham Technical College reported on its website that classes were delayed two hours, with operations beginning at 10 a.m.
Sunny skies with a high of 46 degrees was expected Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Rain was forecast for the weekend, with high temperatures around 50 degrees, closer to seasonal norms.
—David Rasbach, drasbach@bhamherald.com, contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 5:31 AM.
