Snowflakes by the zillions mean area sees fender-benders by the hundreds

Trying to quantify the recent snowstorm isn't easy: hundreds of thousands of kids out of school, hundreds of snowplows keeping the roads clear, hundreds of fender-bender accidents, hundreds of abandoned vehicles.

Here's what state and local agencies say the storm wrought:

• A 30-year-old woman died when her car hit ice and crossed into oncoming traffic, striking a pickup.

• The Washington State Patrol investigated 227 accidents from 3 p.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday in King County. Most were fender-benders with no serious injuries. Jeff Merrill, a Patrol spokesman, said that number should be doubled to account for all the accidents, including those not investigated by troopers. That compares with the daily average of 30 to 40 accidents.

• Calls for assistance totaled 568, and troopers impounded 67 cars.

• The state Department of Transportation had 220 trucks working in the Puget Sound area; that includes 15 trucks and a grader that came from Snoqualmie Pass to help in east King County.

• The state used 6,000 gallons of liquid de-icer and 82 tons of solid de-icer in the Seattle and Bellevue region during the storm. In Snohomish County, crews used 2,653 gallons of liquid de-icer and 33 tons of solid de-icer.

• The city of Seattle has 20 snow-removal vehicles, 17 of which have plows and 18 of which carry saddle bags filled with 150 gallons of de-icer. All of the trucks carry tons of sand and gravel, with de-icer mixed in. The city also has two tankers filled with de-icer that were used before the storm hit.

• In the past two days, the city has used 2,000 gallons of de-icer and dropped 350 tons of gravel and 45 tons of gravel mixed with de-icer.

• King County has about 30 trucks with plows and sanders; 11 graders; and four anti-icing trucks that spread chemicals on the road to impede ice from forming.

• With most area schools closed Thursday, some 330,000 students in King and Snohomish counties were out of school.

• While only 1 inch of snow was reported in North Seattle and 3 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 5 inches fell in Beacon Hill and Des Moines, according to the National Weather Service.

Three inches fell in Kent and Tacoma, 7 inches in Duvall, 6 inches in Maple Valley, Federal Way and Issaquah. Thirteen inches fell in Fall City, 9 inches in Snoqualmie Ridge, 10 inches in Sultan and 7 inches in Bellingham.