SEATTLE (Reuters) ? A Pacific storm blanketed Seattle in more than 4 inches of snow on Wednesday, forcing school closures and airline flight cancellations and snarling traffic throughout a city more accustomed to rain than severe winter weather.
But the storm, nicknamed "Snowmageddon" as it approached the Puget Sound region, proved less extreme than originally forecast, with the National Weather Service lowering its outlook for possible snow accumulations from up to 10 inches to around 6 inches, meteorologist Dustin Guy said.
The storm, which arrived on Tuesday evening, bore down more forcefully on towns in the interior part of Washington state, where snowfall totals ranging from 10 inches to 20 inches were forecast, the Weather Service said.
More than 38,000 customers had lost power late on Wednesday, as the state braced itself for icy, slick roads from falling temperatures and possible rain.
In Pierce County, Tacoma Public Utilities reported about 24,000 without power in the Tacoma area and Puget Sound Energy, which services the Seattle metropolitan area, reported 14,000 without power, said Charles Tomala, a spokesman for the state's Emergency Operations Center at 8 p.m. local time.
An additional 200 residences also lost power when a tree fell in Mason County, near the state capital of Olympia and on the Puget Sound's southwest edge.
Most of the state's schools, including those throughout Seattle, were scheduled to be closed on Thursday.
By midday Wednesday, 20 inches of snow already had fallen on the rural town of Rochester, just south of Olympia, said Rob Harper, a spokesman for the state Emergency Operations Center.
Some of the state's biggest snowfall was recorded in rural Lewis County, with 2 feet measured in Napavine, a town of some 1,350 residents 85 miles southwest of Seattle.
The same storm system dumped several inches of snow across parts of Western Oregon early Wednesday, enough to force some schools to close, but the precipitation later turned to rain.
The combination of high winds and heavy, wet snow was blamed for leaving 30,000 Portland General Electric customers without power at the height of the storm, but about half of those customers had power restored by late afternoon. Toppled trees also blocked a number of roads around Portland and the coast.
Most schools in the Seattle area were closed on Wednesday due to the storm, said Lesley Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Seattle Public Schools district.
Children took advantage of the rare snow day to sled down hilly streets, especially the city's tallest incline, Queen Anne Hill, which towers 450 feet above nearby Elliott Bay.
Four inches of snow was measured at the city's Sea-Tac Airport by mid-morning, and the Seattle suburb of Bothell was blanketed with nearly 7 inches of snow, the Weather Service reported.
Alaska Airlines canceled over 40 flights departing from or arriving in Seattle as a result of the storm, the company said on its Facebook page. Southwest Airlines cancelled six flights into Seattle early in the day but resumed all flights by mid-morning, said company spokeswoman Ashley Dillon.
The snowstorm also slowed traffic on city streets and freeways.
"There's been tons of collisions, it's been really slick out there," said Julie Startup, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Patrol.
The State Patrol responded to reports of 75 collisions and spin-outs in King County alone, which includes Seattle, between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., Startup said.
Normally temperate Seattle is more accustomed to steady rain than snow in winter, averaging just 6 to 7 inches of snow each year, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Colman.
The snow was expected to taper off on Wednesday night, giving way to a mixture of rain and snow more typical for the region, Weather Service meteorologist Johnny Burg said.
But Harper said freezing rain could bring about additional problems in parts of Washington state.
"Freezing rain increases the chances that power lines will come down," he said.
He added the governor could later declare a state of emergency if conditions worsen.
(Additional reporting By Lauren Keiper and Teresa Carson; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Dan Burns)
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