Mother Nature plays havoc with speedy holiday deliveries

Still waiting for that Christmas package from Grandma to arrive?

It's on its way — really — but you'll need an extra dose of patience as delivery drivers and letter carriers battle the same snowy conditions and ice-covered hills that have turned commutes into crawls and side streets into skating rinks.

The worst winter weather in years means those holiday cards and presents may stay stuck, well, in the mail, until we start to thaw this weekend.

"We hope our customers will be patient with us. Obviously, we want to get those Christmas gifts to our customers," Jim McCluskey, a FedEx spokesman, said from the company's headquarters in Memphis, Tenn.

UPS was also experiencing delivery delays throughout Washington state because of the bad weather, said Donna Barrett, a corporate spokeswoman in Atlanta.

Its employees are dealing with winter storms here and in New Jersey and Missouri, while in California, rain and severe flooding are impacting delivery schedules, she said.

"If conditions are hazardous or dangerous for our drivers and others on the road, we won't go there" until conditions improve, Barrett said.

U.S. Postal Service employees are doing everything they can to get the mail delivered, said Ernie Swanson, a spokesman for the Seattle District, which covers the region from the Canadian border to south of Fort Lewis and from the Olympic Peninsula east to Moses Lake.

Postal workers aren't allowed to take vacation time during the busy holiday season, Swanson said, noting the majority are reporting to work every day, despite dicey drives and a dearth of bus service.

Chains have been installed on more than 3,500 trucks in the district, but drivers are still having trouble getting to some neighborhoods.

Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah have proved challenging, along with West Seattle, Queen Anne and Capitol Hill, Swanson said.

"Wherever there are icy hills and people are having trouble getting around, we'll have trouble as well," he said. "Our people are certainly aware how important it is [to get the mail delivered] this time of year, when people are counting on cards and gifts."

Swanson said there are more than 2,600 delivery routes in the Seattle District, signaling 2.5 million "delivery points — a number that represents physical locations, such as homes, businesses or apartment buildings — though not necessarily individual addresses. It also doesn't include post-office boxes.

On Friday, carriers were unable to deliver mail to 9,600 delivery points, a number that rose to 13,600 Saturday.

As the weather worsened, that number spiked to 225,000 delivery points that didn't get deliveries Monday, Swanson said.

Tuesday's numbers won't be available until this morning.

"We're doing the best we can to get what we can into customers' mailboxes," Swanson said. "If it's on an icy hill or the road is closed or it's just impossible to get there, we'll try again the next day."

Post offices will be open regular hours today but will be closed Christmas Day.

There will be no regular mail delivery on Christmas but express mail will be delivered, provided it was sent no later than 1 p.m. Wednesday and the destination is in a major metropolitan area, Swanson said.

UPS will also be closed Christmas Day. On a typical day, it handles well over 110,000 packages at its Seattle hub in the Industrial District and dispatches 400 drivers in the Seattle-Redmond area, said Barrett, the UPS spokeswoman.

The weather is "definitely affecting operations in the Seattle area and a lot of Washington," she said. She directed customers to the company Web site, www.ups.com, for service updates and to track packages.

FedEx occasionally opens customer counters on Christmas, but that decision has yet to be made.

It employs 15 meteorologists who track winter storms, hurricanes, torrential rain and other weather across the globe, said McCluskey, the FedEx spokesman in Memphis. He also directed customers to the company Web site, www.fedex.com.

""Hopefully we can get all those Christmas presents delivered," he said.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com