At Wayne Coding, with John Pococino, Mr. First Nighter, and the Eyewitness News wheel.
From your 24-hour news source, this is Cairo News, live at 11.
Yes, it is still snowing out there in some places.
The worst may be over now from the snowstorm that swept in from Canada and off the ocean tonight,
but there are still some trouble spots out there, in fact, up the mountain.
They are chaining up on Snoqualmie Pass right now, people bundling up all across Washington State.
There has been snow, there is snow, and it's going to be a cold one out there.
Some neighborhoods getting their first snow of the season right now.
We'll be getting an update from Harry Woppler very soon.
Snow is something that, well, we love, we hate, we love, we hate.
Kids think it's great, but for those of us who have to drive in it, well, it's nothing all that much fun.
Sasha Foo right now is standing by live in the elements tonight. Sasha?
Well, Gary, I'm happy to say that I am in Seattle where it is dry.
There is no snow, but it is very, very cold.
Now, the cold is not going to be much of a problem here, but it is a concern in Skagit County
where officials are worried about freezing temperatures and icy roads.
That is where most of the snow fell earlier.
The season's first snowfall caught just about everyone by surprise.
Drivers up north in Skagit County, where the flakes fell fast and thick.
The snow-dusted treetops created a Christmas card effect.
It also created hazardous roads.
As day turned to night and the mercury dipped, the roads turned slick.
This accident on I-5 in Mount Vernon caused when a car lost control on black ice.
Snow plow crews got their first call for the season.
Even the pros were caught by surprise.
We're just starting to prepare for the winter season.
They don't have the plows on them yet because we weren't expecting the snow.
So we had to go around and take and equip all the trucks with the sanding equipment and the plows.
Rhonda DeGloria is already winterized.
She just can't remember snow ever coming this early.
This is especially early, but I think we were prepared to have the cars,
all the antifreeze and new wiper blades.
So, you know, we never do the snow tires.
We don't have to drive that far, fortunately, but we just go slow,
take a little extra time to get there.
For the Morgan family, the snow was an extra Halloween-time treat.
I was snowballing with the snow and I was cooking dinner tonight.
He was outside and he was right on the window.
I was like, oh no.
The Brown House in Burlington is decked out for Halloween and Christmas both.
The snow just made the holiday decorations seem more complete.
You know, Gary, merchants and stores keep trying to push the Christmas season
earlier and earlier every year.
Maybe Mother Nature is getting the same idea.
And, Sasha, we're getting a break on studded tires because of this, too,
even though the one woman up in Burlington doesn't use snow tires.
A lot of people do.
Yes, that's right.
The Department of Transportation has taken pity on those people who may have to
rough it in the coming days, and they are going to allow drivers to have the
studded tires starting today.
That's three days earlier than the original November 1st date.
All right, Sasha, thank you.
I know you've done good duty out there.
You were out on Woodby Island earlier in the snow.
We've got you backwards a little bit dry, at least.
Harry Woppler, what's going on out there?
Well, Gary, as you can see on the satellite photograph tonight,
most of the rain has now and snow has moved to the south of the area.
We're now getting the cold, gusty winds coming down from the north,
and that's going to cause some problems.
I'll talk about it in a minute.
But I do want to mention this, that tonight the snow is now sweeping up into
southeastern Washington.
Hanford and Yakima both reporting snow, and areas over there like Yakima and
Hanford could get one to three inches of snow tonight before the system
sinks all the way out of the way.
The wind chill is a big deal tonight.
I want to tell you about that because with the gusty north winds up from
gusts of 30, even 35 miles per hour, and temperatures anywhere from low
20s north to low 30s in the south sound, you can see temperatures that your
body will feel effectively.
That's what the wind chill really means.
This is the equivalent temperature in still air from five below to 15 below
zero in northern areas to five below to five above in the southern areas.
Now, that doesn't mean that your car radiator feels those temperatures.
Your car radiator and your pipes get only as cold as the temperature on the
thermometer.
The wind will make them cool down to that temperature quicker, but they do
not experience a wind chill effect.
That's for warm-blooded people like us and for your pets.
Real careful letting the dogs and cats out tonight.
All right, Harry, that's good advice.
Thank you.
And you know, while most of the storm has blown through in our part of the
area right now, the snow and ice are still causing some problems behind them.
The Bellingham Airport has been shut down for several hours because of icy
conditions up there.
And a lot of people have lost electrical power at various times throughout the
day, the afternoon, and the evening, including some folks in Kent.
And, of course, if you want to keep up to date, up to the minute in the morning
on what is going on, Channel 7 is the place to come 24 hours a day.
Our first in the morning news will have tips on any closures or commuting
problems starting every morning, Monday through Friday at 4.30 a.m.
An avarite man is in jail tonight accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his
wife.
Today, Henry Jacobson appeared before a U.S. magistrate.
Jacobson had a plan to rig his wife's car to stall in a remote area,
according to the undercover investigator.
There she would be murdered by a man.
But the FBI got wind of Jacobson's plan and arrested him after he paid the
undercover agent $5,000 to complete the task.
This afternoon, Jacobson's wife spoke out about the alleged plot to end her
life.
Carla Jacobson says it was just a matter of time before her husband tried
something like this.
I knew he was going to do it, but I didn't know that he was going to hire
somebody else to do it.
I thought he would try to do it on his own.
FBI officials say the plot stems from a messy divorce.
Henry Jacobson will be back in court.
I think what we're seeing is people in the meteorological profession.
It's certainly more than just passing interest to people who have to get out
in the morning and walk or drive, try to get to work or get the kids to
school.
I have a feeling there will be some delays in some of the school buses
tomorrow morning because we have had up to 2-6 inches of snow in northern
areas, especially around the Port Angeles area.
Let's start by looking at what we've got going on at SeaTac Airport where
the sky is now simply cloudy.
Buddy, it is cold.
37 degrees our current temperature.
North at 16.
That is why we are talking about wind chill factors tonight so you will
feel colder than that temperature on the thermometer.
Barometric pressure falling at 30.06.
Our Almanac shows the temperature range today.
Our high was normally our low, 43 degrees, and the normal low is exactly
that.
A normal high would be 55.
The record high is 66 from 1962, the record low 29 from 1946.
On October 27th, this is the 28th, but on October 27th, 1971, we did have
2 inches of snow at SeaTac on that date.
So it has happened before.
I don't know what happened to the northern areas at that time, but my
record showed just simply SeaTac getting some snow.
And I would imagine there certainly were other places in western Washington
too in that storm 20 years ago.
So the temperatures today, 30s and 40s, much below our normal values, and
in eastern Washington even colder, barely above the freezing mark there
with Yakima, 36, the warmest.
Now Yakima and Hanford and probably Walla Walla tonight are going to see
a bit of snow.
Here's why.
The upper level low has moved down in this manner so that the circulation
now comes up and goes up those mountains, the mountains in
southeastern Washington and the east side of the Cascades.
So they're getting some snow.
The passes can be tricky, and the Yakima area, driving is very tricky tonight.
So if you're going over that way tomorrow, you better allow some extra
time and take the traction devices with you, either studded tires or maybe,
I don't think you'll need chains in the passes tomorrow, but the snow is
largely over by now.
Just some rain going on in southwestern Washington, and the snow in eastern
Washington will be tapering off tonight.
But the cold pattern continues that the upper level pattern and the surface
pattern as well will feed lots of more cold air into Washington state.
So we're going to stick around with this cold pattern for a while.
Here's our forecast for tonight, and that is for the rain and snow to be ending,
but cold and windy.
Lows anywhere from low 20s north to low 30s in the south sound, and the winds
north 10 to 20, but some stronger gusts to 30 miles per hour in northern
areas and around Hood Canal Bridge, we haven't seen tonight.
Tomorrow clearing, but cold and windy with the highs 38 to 45 and north winds
that are really going to make you think, gee, must my calendar watch wrong?
Is my calendar on the wall wrong?
This can't be October, but it is.
I didn't even tell you that, I guess.
In the five-day forecast, we're looking for a chance of some rain or snow to
develop on Thursday, and that is Halloween.
I don't think the kids are going to be prevented from trick or treating by snow
or anything like that, Gary, but I think that the pattern, the important thing
to remember here is that highs will start to warm up a bit over the next couple
of days by Thursday, and then they're going to cool back a bit, and the
nighttime temperatures especially are going to be really chilly.
In the meantime, we'll bundle up.
Yeah.
And don't forget, last Halloween we had thunderstorms.
Yeah.
But the snow isn't going to hurt.
Yeah, and you remember that when you take your kids out.
You remember what last Halloween was like.
Thanks, Gary, sure.
Well, in addition to the weather problems, there is going to be no foot
passenger-only ferry service between Seattle and Bremerton.
Tomorrow morning, the ferry Calama blew a head gasket, so make other arrangements.
As the time until Election Day grows shorter, supporters of Initiative 120 are
calling in some big guns to speak in favor of the pro-choice measure.
Faye Waddleton, the president of Planned Parenthood, appeared at a fundraiser in
Seattle tonight.
Another celebrity there, too, though, one of the interests of fans of the TV show
Northern Exposure, and Karen O'Leary has that story.
Actor Rob Moro, the star of Northern Exposure, says he thought a long time
before deciding to go public with his support for Initiative 120, but he
believes in a woman's right to choose an abortion, and he hopes his taking a
stand will make a difference.
You have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen.
Has anybody ever told you that?
You know him as an actor.
Now meet him as an advocate.
29-year-old Rob Moro is a strong supporter of Initiative 120.
It goes to the essence of my personal politics, of an individual's right to
their own happiness that was written into the Constitution.
And so Moro attended a fundraiser for the Initiative, mingling with other
supporters, Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and Planned Parenthood President Faye Waddleton.
I do believe in what you are doing in this state, and it's important to the
women of this country.
Had you met Faye Waddleton before?
No.
She's very pretty.
Moro is a political novice, and he says now that he's taken a stand on
Initiative 120, he's more likely to come out in favor of something else.
He says he'll be cautious, though, making sure it's something he firmly believes
in, as he does abortion right.
I've never been in a position where my taking a stand on something could
possibly help a little.
I certainly believed in it in a long time and have been in favor of it and
been following it for years.
While filming the TV show, which takes about eight months of the year, Moro
lives in the Seattle area, so he says it only makes sense to get involved in
local politics.
He told me he also supports Initiative 119, the Death with Dignity Initiative.
The issues that we're going to be following very closely and hearing from
all sides on over the next week.
Oh, absolutely.
Thanks, Karen.
Coming up next, Wayne Cody with sports, and they had a Monday night football
game tonight, which Seahawks fans wouldn't know which team to root for, but
one of them won, and it was an exciting finish.
Wayne will be here in a moment.