In our opinion: Flexible medium

Snow is an interesting temperature-dependent travel medium. By car, truck, Snow Cat, snowmobile, ski or foot, moving across the snow always changes from one trip to the next.

Though most in the county were skeptical that snow would come at all to Kitsap, those who did believe, figured it would come down warm and wet. Or, they expected that as Wednesday passed, the snow would warm into a slushy ice mixture.

Numerous variables in the atmosphere kept forecasters busy trying to let the public know what to do until the snow began to fall in earnest. Drivers that “braved” Wednesday’s roads in the early morning found dry snow covering most roads several inches deep – hilly or not – and stable below-freezing temperatures that left plenty of friction in the snow to create traction if their vehicle had good all-season tires, or better, and the sense to keep their driving  “low and slow.”

It’s also a good thing that Mother Nature conspired with the local “media hype” that “overcast” the storm and scared people into staying home because the city, county and state road crews largely left the snow on streets and highways for most of the day.

Those not accustomed to Western Washington snow and its water content and those with bald tires and rear-wheel drive joined those who had the right equipment, but the wrong attitude, in ditches everywhere – not just in hill zones.

Had traffic been heavier, it’s quite likely that collisions would have increased and one or two of our fellow citizens would have made a dire trip to the hospital.

We wonder how much money was saved by local governments that left the snow where it fell, told people to stay home and hoped like hell it all melted?

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