Update 9:30 a.m.: Woodland Park Zoo has reopened today after two days of closure. It is open until 4 p.m.

Update 8 a.m.: The route 28  route has changed as of early this morning.

Due to road conditions, Route 28 is now traveling via Greenwood Av N and Holman Rd in both directions between N 143rd St and NW 103rd St.

When Route 28 is operating via its designated snow routing, board or exit it at posted bus stops along Greenwood Av N.

The forecast calls for warmer temperatures and rains that will start to melt that snow and ice on Friday. Here’s the official word on closures, etc.

Seattle Public Library branches will open at 1 p.m. Friday.

Seattle Public Schools are closed again on Friday.

Next Tuesday, Jan. 24 is a three-hour early dismissal from schools because of a scheduled furlough day. That day cannot be used as a snow make-up day. District administration will determine tomorrow if Friday, Jan. 27 – a scheduled day off for professional development – can be used as a snow make-up day.

Metro buses will remain on snow routes on Friday. As of Thursday night, Metro planned to cancel 27 routes on Friday, but that could change as weather conditions change. Expect delays on routes that are still running. Dress warmly and be prepared to wait at the bus stop.

Seattle City Light reminds customers not to call 911 to report power outages. Instead, call City Light’s Outage Hotline at 206-684-7400. You can see an outage map here.

With the forecast for snow turning to rain Friday, stormwater runoff will challenge Seattle’s drainage system. Seattle Public Utilities is asking residents and businesses to locate the storm drains in the street and clear them of snow, leaves, and debris to help prevent localized flooding. Clearing storm drains is the single most important thing that residents and businesses can do to protect their property and prevent ponding in streets that poses traffic hazards.

If an inlet or street drain appears to be blocked by snow or debris, try to safely clear a channel to provide a path for the runoff. If the drain cannot be cleared, or if the cause of the blockage or flooding is uncertain, call SPU at (206) 386-1800.

If you’ll be driving along 85th Street today, take note that traffic near the intersection of 6th Avenue NW is narrowed to one lane in each direction due to utility work. And 6th Avenue NW is blocked off with cones, so no turning off or onto 6th.

Seattle’s long-running neighborhood cleanup program, Spring Clean, is back, and hundreds or even thousands of residents will spend April and May painting out graffiti, picking up litter, and cleaning up the city in other ways.

Spring Clean is now in its 25th year. Last year, more than 20,000 volunteer hours were put in.

Spring Clean activities include painting out graffiti, picking up litter and illegally dumped materials, stenciling storm drains, cleaning school yards, removing invasive plants in planting strips and traffic circles, and planting trees.  All projects are conducted on public property.

The City of Seattle supports volunteers with FREE bags, gloves, safety vests, and waste disposal. Spring Clean information, including neighborhood cleanup activities and sign-up packets, is available by calling 206-233-7187 or by visiting www.seattle.gov/util/springclean.

Spring Clean is a partnership between Seattle residents and Seattle Public Utilities, Parks and Recreation, the Department of Neighborhoods, and the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Learn more about Seattle Public Utilities at: www.seattle.gov/util.

Light snow started falling Tuesday afternoon across the neighborhood in a preview of what’s expected Wednesday and into Thursday, according to the weather report. 

Here it starts to blanket the play field at West Woodland Park near the corner of North 59th Street and Phinney Avenue North.

Mayor Mike McGinn put out a press release encouraging people to plan accordingly for a “difficult” Wednesday afternoon commute.

“The latest weather forecasts call for snowfall of 2 to 6 inches beginning Wednesday afternoon, followed by freezing temperatures through the end of the week. That pattern is very similar to the snowstorm that hit Seattle during Thanksgiving week last year. While we learned a lot and made improvements following that storm, it’s impossible to predict exactly where and how this week’s storm will hit hardest.

With that in mind, we are activating the city’s snow and ice plan. The Seattle Department of Transportation began by pre-treating streets with anti-icing solution today. Crews will go to 24-hour work shifts beginning Wednesday morning.

Because Wednesday afternoon’s commute is expected to be difficult, it may be a good day to work an alternate shift, telecommute or make other travel arrangements if possible.”

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) says that at 4 a.m. Wednesday, 10 snow plows will hit the streets in  North Seattle and another eight plows will work in South Seattle.

Starting at 9 a.m., SDOT will go into a full 24-hour response plan to keep roads open, buses moving and critical emergency services accessible.

The response plan calls for deploying 30 trucks with plows, which will be prepositioned throughout the city in key locations such as elevated structures and certain trouble spots on major arterials. The department starting pre-treating major roadways with salt brine this afternoon in preparation for the storm. Additional details concerning SDOT’s response will be forthcoming as more information about the impending storm becomes available…

As a reminder, property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks adjacent to their properties after a snowstorm. SDOT encourages residents and businesses to have snow shovels and materials on-hand to keep walkways clear and safe for pedestrians.

Metro is urging bus riders to prepare for possible delays, and advises that you check out its Alert Center for status updates.

• Know the snow routing for your bus route. Check the timetables at Metro Online for snow route maps for each route. Not every bus route has snow routing, but most do.

• When buses are on snow routing, some streets and bus stops may be missed and there are often delays due to travel conditions. There is new snow routing in many areas that is different from past years, so be sure to check the snow routes for all the routes you use most often.

• If you haven’t already, sign up for Transit Alerts to keep up with any major changes to bus service. The alerts can be received as email or text messages. Go to www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow to subscribe.

• Metro is using a new online color-coded map to keep riders informed of the status of its bus service, which can be found online at: www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow. All bus routes are assigned into one or more of seven geographic areas within King County. When there is snow or ice on the roads, the service status of each area will be color coded and displayed on the online map. Green indicates buses are operating on normal routes; yellow that some – but not all – routes in the area are on snow routes (primarily in higher elevation areas); and red tells you that all bus routes in the entire geographic area are on snow routing.

• People without online access can call the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000. General information about service will also be sent out via the kcmetrobus Twitter account.

• Be patient. Buses are not always on schedule in snowy or icy conditions. And, increased ridership during bad weather can result in crowded buses and a longer-than-usual wait on the phone for the Customer Information Office.

• Dress warmly for the walk to the bus stop, expect delays, and wear appropriate footwear for the weather.

• Head for bus stops on main arterials or at major transfer points such as park-and-ride lots, transit centers, or shopping centers.

• Riders should wait at bus stops at the very top or very bottom of hills, because buses are often unable to stop for passengers on inclines.

And finally, Seattle Public Utilities advises that you put out your garbage, recycling and yard waste like normal Wednesday morning.

If your collection is missed, please leave your materials out for one more day. If your materials still have not been collected by 5 p.m. Thursday, please bring them inside until your next regularly scheduled pickup day.

Seattle Public Utilities crews are making repairs to a broken water main in the right curb lane of eastbound North 85th Street, just west of Greenwood Avenue North.

Signage is set up directing traffic around and past the work zone. The emergency repair work may last until 8 p.m. this evening. Motorists should expect congestion and anticipate slowing down approaching the work area.

Seattle Public Utilities emergency services line used to allow callers to report problems such as flooding or sewer backups only in English. But, SPU just added translation services for 14 languages.

If you call SPU’S Operations Response Center at 206-386-1800 to report flooding on your street or your sewer backing up, you can get translation assistance in the top 14 languages spoken in Seattle: Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Somali, Tagalog, Korean, Cambodian, Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Laotian, Thai, and Russian.

That customer service line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Seattle City light crews restored power to a large swath of the neighborhood after the power went out at about 7:30 a.m. today About 2,600 homes and businesses were affected from downed wires at the intersection of North 72nd Street and Dayton Avenue North. The power was back on at about 8:15 a.m.

City Light said the general boundaries of the outage were Third Avenue on the west, Aurora Avenue on the east, 60th Street on the south and 105th Street on the north. Not all homes and businesses in that area were affected.

Reader DeeVee said City Light worked quickly to remove the downed wires and get the power back on. “Kudos to the crew for the fast work and for keeping the curious citizens informed.”

Seattle Public Utilities will collect Christmas trees and other holiday greenery for free from residents who subscribe to yard waste collection. Just put it out on your regular collection day.

Trees should be cut into sections of six feet long or shorter, with branches trimmed to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Sections should be bundled with string or twine. Multi-family buildings can put out one tree next to each yard waste cart at no extra charge.

Trees that are flocked and/or have tinsel or ornaments will be collected as extra garbage. Customers will need to cut the tree into three-foot pieces and each piece will be charged as extra garbage. Starting January 1, each unit of extra garbage will cost $8.10. Plastic trees are not recyclable.

Seattle residents can also drop off their holiday trees and greens for free at Seattle Public Utilities’ North and South Recycling and Disposal stations between Dec. 26, 2010 and Jan. 9, 2011. The tree sections must be cut to eight feet or less in length and the trunk must be four inches or smaller in diameter. The limit is three trees per vehicle. Only trees without flocking or decoration may be disposed free of charge.
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The North Recycling and Disposal Station is at North 34th Street and Carr Place North in Fremont/Wallingford. It is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Seattle City Light is reporting several hundred customers in Greenwood and Phinney are without power.

(Update 2:15 p.m.: City Light’s outage map shows this outage has been fixed, and a neighbor in that area who lost power confirms that her power is back.) Earlier: According to City Light’s outage map, more than 500 customers are affected by an outage caused by a falling tree near Palatine Avenue North and North 90th Street. The estimated power restoration time is 7:12 p.m. Customers from roughtly 85th to 95th and Greenwood Avenue to 3rd Avenue NW are affected.

Another tree-caused outage near Greenwood Avenue North and North 86th Street is affecting 14 customers. Power is expected to be restored by 6:40 p.m.

Another outage on the other side of Aurora Avenue North near Interlake Avenue North and North 100th Street is affecting more than 1,000 customers, some as far west as Fremont Avenue North. Power to that area is expected to be restored by 6:40 p.m.

City Light is updating the outage map at least every 15 minutes. Since the winds are still strong this afternoon, more outages are possible.

Seattle Public Utilities says solid waste collection is back on a normal schedule after last week’s snow canceled pickups for two days.

Beginning today, SPU is allowing residents whose containers were not picked up on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, to put out twice as much garbage and yard waste for no additional fee, as well as all additional recycling (which is free anyway).

When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged, non-perishable items next to the containers.

Contractors will also attempt to pick up all missed recycling collections this week instead of on their bi-weekly schedule. If recyclables cannot fit into their container, customers can use a paper bag or cardboard box to store the additional items.

To ensure collection, customers should have their containers out by 7 a.m.

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) will continue to post service updates on www.seattle.gov/util. Customers can also reach SPU for information by calling Customer Service at (206) 684-3000…Follow SPU on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SeattleSPU.

Seattle Public Utilities won’t be picking up garbage, recycling and yard waste for the second day in a row, because the side streets are too dangerous for its trucks.

Customers whose containers were not collected on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week will have them collected next week on their regularly scheduled pick-up day, and will be allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage, yard waste and recycling at no additional charge.

When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged, non-perishable items next to the containers.

On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 25, no garbage, food and yard waste or recycling collections will take place in Seattle. Collections scheduled for Thursday will occur on Friday, and Friday collections will occur on Saturday. Please be sure to have your containers out by 7 a.m. to ensure collection.

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) will continue to post service updates on www.seattle.gov/util. Customers can also reach SPU for information by calling Customer Service at (206) 684-3000.

Seattle Public Utilities is not picking up garbage, recycling and yard waste today because of dangerous road conditions.

Missed customers will be collected next Tuesday, November 30, and allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge.

Customers missed Monday, November 22, will be collected next Monday, November 29, and also allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge.

When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged, non-perishable items next to the containers.

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) will continue to post service updates on www.seattle.gov/util. Customers can also reach SPU for information by calling Customer Service at (206) 684-3000.

Follow SPU on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SeattleSPU.