Renton Snow Snapshot, Conditions For January 18

Renton woke up to a blanket of fresh snow Wednesday morning, with more on the way. A steady stream of flurries continued for most of the day, although snowfall fell short of projections.

The conditions and snow-hype were enough to keep many people off the roads and near home. Mike Moskowitz, owner of in downtown Renton, rode his mountain bike to work.

By 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, more than 50 people had come through the café’s doors, including “more kids than usual,” likely due to canceled classes.

Liberty Café was among a handful of downtown business open on Wednesday. DC’s Bar and Grill, A Terrible Beauty, The Red House, Naan’n’Curry, The Met and Luther’s Table were also open.

Other sources of snow-day entertainment could be found at the , which opened its doors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and hosted several walk-in guests, said Liz Stewart, museum director.  Stewart also chose not to drive to work, and walked instead.

The was another popular hangout.

“We’ve had two dozen patrons at any given time today,” said Angelina Benedetti, KCLS library manager. “It’s more people than I expected.”

The downtown library was staffed with up to nine people today, while the operated on a “skeleton crew” of five staff members.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, only three patrons had made the trek to the Fairwood branch, Benedetti said.

Roadways were slushy, but passable for most drivers. The Renton Transit Center buzzed with activity and buses outfitted with chains.

Thirty-year veteran King County Metro Bus driver “DB” sipped hot chocolate while waiting for a crew to repair a busted set of snow chains on his rig.

The roads were “not too bad” on route 240 from Renton to Bellevue, he said. While conditions were worse on Wednesday than Tuesday, ridership was down.

“A lot of people decided to stay home,” he said.