SEATTLE - A cold snap followed Western Washington's second significant snowfall of the season, which snarled Puget Sound-area traffic, figured in at least one traffic death and closed schools for tens of thousands of youngsters.

Drivers who managed to navigate the ice-covered roads Thursday morning face another day of frozen messiness as a deep freeze sets in Western Washington.

"We're done with precipitation. Now it's just staying cold," says KING 5 meteorologist Rich Marriott. "For tonight, temperatures could reach in the teens and 20's - the coldest night this winter."

Drivers should brace for at least two days of icy, slippery roads. Friday morning's commute could be challenging, especially in shady areas, along bridges and on many secondary roads where there's still ice.

Most of Seattle got no more than about an inch of snow, but unofficial reports included from 4 to 6 inches in many outlying areas with 9 inches in Ferndale, near the Canadian border, and 10 inches in Sultan, northeast of Seattle in central Snohomish County, said Dustin Guy, a National Weather Service forecaster.

Public schools with more than 350,000 students were closed Thursday in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and suburban and outlying areas.

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Drivers frustrated by Wednesday's stop and go traffic during the evening commute parked their cars on the side of the road overnight on Seattle's Eastside.

Gusty winds blew in with the cold Thursday night in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties. Temperatures in those counties could drop in the single digits in some spots, while wind chills in Seattle and Tacoma could reach down in the teens.

Seattle police officers and volunteers with Operation Night Watch, a social service agency for the homeless, teamed up Wednesday night to offer transportation to the city's four cold weather shelters, the mayor's office said.

Abandoned cars on frozen roads

Many motorists who abandoned their cars after being paralyzed by the snow during Wednesday evening's commute spent Thursday morning digging out their vehicles.

A KING 5 News photographer on Thursday counted 127 cars still parked along the side of SE Newport Way and Lakemont Blvd. SE on the Eastside, while abandoned vehicles still littered I-90 at Sunset Way. One motorist reported that Bellevue Police called him this morning and told him to recover his car or it would be towed.

One transportation official estimated there were about 75 minor collisions east of Lake Washington on Interstates 405 and 90 and State Route 520 between 3 and 9 p.m. No serious injuries were reported.

"Wherever snow fell, accidents occurred," State Patrol Trooper Jeffrey L. Merrill said.

Karin Czulik / KING5.com

Hundreds of drivers unable to get uphill left their cars in the Fred Meyer and Home Depot parking lots in Issaquah.

In Kitsap County, across Puget Sound, Gemma Collins, 30, of Bremerton, died after her car skidded on ice into oncoming traffic and collided with a pickup truck on State Route 307, state troopers said. The pickup driver escaped injury.

State ferry officials suspended vehicle service from West Seattle to Vashon Island for about an hour and a half because cars leaving the dock on the island were unable to get up the icy hill from the terminal, spokeswoman Susan Harris said. The restriction was lifted after the hill was sanded.

South of Tacoma, snow accumulations were generally less than 2 inches, but the state Department of Transportation reported black ice and numerous collisions on Interstate 5 in the Chehalis and Toledo areas.

Shady areas, secondary roads most hazardous

To stay ahead of the freeze, Washington State Department of Transportation crews have been clearing snow and ice from major highways and putting down lots of deicer.

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Firefighters try to reach two people trapped in a Landrover that went down an embankment in Bothell.

Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald says crews concentrated on interstates. Side streets are another matter. The department says it brought in 19 trucks from Central and Eastern Washington to help clear snow and fight ice in Western Washington. That made a total of more than 220 vehicles plowing snow and treating icy spots, such as bridges and overpasses.

Even with the overnight work, the department expects plenty of icy conditions will be left and they're hoping motorists who do venture out to take their time doing it.

While area highways are getting plenty of attention, many secondary roads and most neighborhood streets won't be touched by plows or sanding and salting trucks and as a result are expected to remain especially slick.