Winter storm socks Washington state

Seattle residents faced a much better commute Thursday as a winter storm that struck the Pacific Northwest tapered off, weather forecasters said. The storm dumped as much as 20 inches of snow on parts of Washington state, adding as much as an inch an hour, The Seattle Times reported. The Washington state Department of Transportation said major highways in Western Washington were mostly bare as crews worked to clear them. Some 50 Metro buses in Seattle were stalled or stranded Wednesday. Bus drivers complied with orders to go down hills one at a time causing traffic backups. Schools in the city were ordered closed in advance of the storm. The winter storm was expected to move eastward Thursday bringing snow into the Dakotas and the Upper Midwest after midnight, Accuweather reported. Forecasters said the fast-moving nature of the storm system would limit snowfall accumulations and only a few inches would fall in the Dakotas. However, by the time the storm reaches the Midwest, it will have gained considerable strength. Chicago was told to expect more than six inches of snow beginning Friday morning, the Chicago Tribune reported.