Five reasons drivers in the Puget Sound area flake out in the snow

Could it be that we are really just snow wimps in this corner of the country? Some folks, and especially those from other parts, might think so.

After all, it takes only a few flakes to delay or cancel schools and close offices, and a few more flakes to send drivers sliding into ditches and into other drivers.

Is it terrain? Is it traction? Is it sheer trepidation? Whatever the reason, there's no getting around it: We're not particularly known for the way we handle snow.

But maybe we have our reasons — good reasons.

1. We have hills — big hills

Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau is not ashamed to tout the city's hills and mountains as a strong selling point.

"In our literature, we always capture a very panoramic and dramatic view of the city," said bureau president Don Welsh.

In fact, the bureau loves promoting pictures of the city taken from atop Queen Anne Hill.

Those same hills are not assets when it snows.

But we're not the only city with hills, points out Seattle Department of Transportation spokesman Gregg Hirakawa. Look at Duluth, Minn. "They have significant hills located in or near the downtown area."

2. We're not experienced enough

Seattle averages only seven days of snow a year, says the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, Nev.

When it comes to snow depths, we average less than an inch at a time. Minneapolis, on the other hand, averages 5 inches.

"For Seattle, snow is rare because we're right next to the Pacific Ocean and it makes our winter weather comparatively mild," said Doug McDonnal, weather forecaster in the National Weather Service's Seattle Forecast office.

3. Most of us don't have studded tires

Certainly, studded tires can help, "but they're not to be used as a crutch," said Washington State Patrol spokesman, J.J. Gundermann, a WSP trooper. He said studded tires, which are usually only allowed Nov. 1-March 31, are more the exception than the rule here.

"It just depends," he said. "My mom puts studded tires on her vehicle every year. Others never use them. It's a matter of personal preference."

4. Other regions have plenty of snowplows

Snowplows don't see a lot of action here because we just don't get that much snow. The state does brag it has 220 trucks working in the Puget Sound area. And King County has nearly three dozen trucks with plows and sanders, 11 graders and four anti-icing trucks.

Seattle has 20 snow-removal vehicles, 17 of which have plows and 18 with saddle bags filled with gallons of de-icer. And they all carry tons of sand and gravel with de-icer mixed in.

"In most cases, we don't need any more," said Tony Ledbetter, the King County Transportation Department's maintenance superintendent for roads. "Is it really cost effective to keep all that equipment around for years and years and years, and not use it?"

5. Let's just face it: We're snow wimps

And some of us, frankly, are flaky. One Eastside deputy tells the tale of a man who for several hours Thursday morning had struggled to get his SUV unstuck. Finally, the deputy approached the driver and suggested that the man might have more success if he used the four-wheel-drive setting on his vehicle. "You mean it has four-wheel drive?" the man replied. He put it in gear and drove off.