Back in the north-east, a couple of inches of light snow would barely make the front page of the local section of the Globe. But here in Seattle….

Drivers inching their way through the evening commute cursed the snow that returned to the Puget Sound region this afternoon, shutting down at least one highway and essentially turning others into parking lots for several hours.

Police couldn’t keep up with cars careening across freeways, chain-reaction fender benders and motorists abandoning their vehicles on suburban roads. For the first time in at least a decade, Highway 9, a major thoroughfare in Snohomish County, was shut down much of the night because it became “a complete sheet of ice,” said Trooper Keith Leary.

Hmmm. Don’t they have sanding trucks around here?

UPDATE: Well, I was probably unfair to Seattlites. It looks as if things turned to freezing rain, which is no fun in any location. And with these steep hills…. Apparently some people who went to last night’s football game found themselves unable to get home. The office is really quiet this morning, and there’s been a steady stream of “WFH” (working from home) emails coming through.