As an experienced snow-and-ice driver, I feel that I am uniquely qualified to comment on the mockery we receive nation-wide whenever Seattle shuts down due to half an inch (or less) of snow.
Here's what those (non-local) news folks are not aware of:
1) Seattle is built on hills. Not small hills like you deal with in the Midwest, for the most part - if the Midwest had hills like Seattle, kids would use them for sledding. They're long and steep. This is not atypical of Seattle's hills.
2) Seattle's snow is usually hovering at almost exactly the freezing point. This means that, over the course of the few days we get snow, it is constantly melting and re-freezing as ice. And ice that is at 32 degrees is much more slippery than ice that is around 15 degrees.
Combining these two with the fact that most of the locals can't drive in the snow, and you get this:
How many of you remember this? Look especially at the image on that link. What you don't know about that image is this:
The bus driver was an experienced snow-and-ice driver. It's a tour bus from Eastern Washington, which resembles a slightly warmer Minnesota in the winter.
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