SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — After a weekend of steady snow, Snohomish County crews are getting ready for the big thaw, which could cause localized urban flooding.
Rebekah Sutherland has a front-row seat to the thaw from an espresso stand on State Route 203 in Monroe.
“A lot of people drive trucks out here, a lot of 4-wheel drive. People aren’t afraid to drive out here,” Sutherland said between customers. “It was pretty slow over the weekend, but people were pretty glad that we were open."
Drip-by-drip, a foot of snow is melting away in Monroe.
“Compare yesterday to today and it is definitely melting a lot more. Yesterday, it was all like snowpack and today it is a lot more slosh,” Sutherland said.
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Across Snohomish County, 27 work trucks are working to clear storm drains and plow secondary streets. With temperatures above freezing, all the melting snow has to go somewhere.
“Although we’d like to think that the water is going to take care of everything for us, we can’t make that assumption. We have to make sure we keep those (storm drains) clear,” said Jim Parker, Snohomish County Road Maintenance Director.
“It might freeze again overnight. Again, we don’t know. We need to keep working on it,” Parker continued.
The county is asking residents to help keep storm drains clear as the snow turns to debris-filled slush.