Snow plow rage: Washington residents fed up with snow reportedly threaten plow drivers with guns
By Chaffin Mitchell, AccuWeather staff writer
February 18, 2019, 12:10:07 PM EST
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Two plow drivers clearing streets were threatened during this past week by people infuriated when their driveways ended up blocked with mounds of snow in the Spokane, Washington, area.
According to Spokane County spokeswoman Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter, during one incident, a man with a holstered handgun yelled obscenities at a plow driver and climbed onto the plow truck, trying to open a door.
On Thursday morning, another man threatened to get a gun while ordering a plow driver not to block a driveway with snow from the street, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
This Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 photo shows vehicles driving through canyons plowed through snow drifts that overshadow them at snowed-in Montecito Sequoia Lodge in Kings Canyon National Park in California's Sierra Nevada. More than 120 visitors and staff who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada resort for five days have been freed. The U.S. Forest Service says snow trapped the guests and staff at the lodge starting Sunday following a storm. They couldn't get out until Thursday night, Feb. 7, 2019. (Joel Keeler via AP)
"Spokane received a total of 23.8 inches of snow during the first 17 days of February, that includes 7.2 inches on Feb. 11 and 4.0 inches on Feb. 10," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.
"Daily snowfall records were set on both of those days. Normally, there is only 4.5 inches of snow during the first 17 days of February in Spokane," Pydynowski said.
Additional snow may coat the city at midweek.
"Even with a half of a month to go, this February is already the city's fourth snowiest February on record," Pydynowski said.
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Farther south, too much snow kept skiers from hitting the slopes at some resorts in California. Snow was so deep plows could not move it and they couldn't find enough places to pile it.
"The powder party continues with another 21-33 inches of snow since [Friday] making for a current storm total of 51-87 inches and the snowiest February on record with over 14-22 feet," Mammoth Mountain Ski resort said on Saturday morning.
❄️❄️SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD!❄️❄️With almost 15 feet of snow at Main Lodge (175”) and 22+ feet at the summit this month, we’ve officially passed 1987 as the snowiest Feb. Storm total since Wed: 47-81” and counting. pic.twitter.com/SBgvNwYrCV
— MammothMountain (@MammothMountain) February 16, 2019
Several routes to the ski mecca of Lake Tahoe shut down, including about 70 miles of Interstate 80 from Colfax, California, to the Nevada state line.
I-80 was reopened to passenger vehicles Friday evening, but chains were required for travel in many other parts of the towering Sierra Nevada.
State Route 267 was so deep in snow that plows could no longer plow.
Snowfall this weekend can dump an additional 1-2 feet on top of the mountains of snow that fell earlier in the week across the highest terrain of the Sierra Nevada, including Donner Pass.
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