SEATTLE - Driving home Monday evening became a nightmare to thousands of commuters and football fans who found themselves stuck in heavy traffic and unable to get up hills.

With white-out conditions on I-90, many people simply ditched their cars and walked home leaving roads and freeways littered with abandoned cars.

Roads were already a mess by the Monday evening commute in the Seattle area, with cars sliding off roads and people stranded, and more snow and cold temperatures are expected to make ice a problem for commuters on Tuesday as well.

Seattle Department of Transportation road crews are working overtime to clear snow and laying down anti-icing agent in preparation for the morning rush hour traffic. 

A storm dumped as much as 2 feet of snow Monday on some parts of Washington state and left thousands of people without power.

"There's cars in the ditches all up and down the road," said Don Bowman, who drove 20 miles from Blaine, near the Canadian border, to Bellingham to buy tire chains after he was unable to find any still available in his hometown.

Another Arctic front rolled into Western Washington Monday evening, bringing with it more snow and cold temperatures.

In Seattle, Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks, turned into a winter wonderland just in time for their Monday night game against the Green Bay Packers - no strangers to harsh winter conditions. Steady snow began falling 20 minutes before kickoff.

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Kids certainly enjoyed the white stuff!

In addition to snow and wind, there was lightning in the area. Two aircraft – one British Airways and one Alaska Airlines– were struck in flight by lightning Monday evening. No one was hurt.

Airport managers said snow plows worked hard to keep runways clear after receiving at least 4 inches of snow at the airport. But it wasn't enough to close down the airport or significantly delay any flights.

According to KING 5 meteorologist Jeff Renner, snow and ice pellet showers are expected overnight, with the heaviest accumulation between Seattle and Everett, and temperatures dropping to the low teens and 20's. Up to 6 inches of snow is likely over north King and south Snohomish counties and a tract to 4 inches from downtown Seattle south.

Wind chills near or below zero are likely over Whatcom and Skagit counties.

By Tuesday morning, the Puget Sound will be mostly sunny and cold with temperatures in the upper 20's and low 30's. The sunny and cold conditions will last until Wednesday morning.

"But we're not done with winter yet," says KING 5 meteorologist Rich Marriott. "Another storm moves in late Wednesday night - and that means more snow."

The region will weather the storm through Thursday, but by Friday, the weather turns sunny and will remain that way for the next week.

Traffic madness

Drivers should expect slick conditions across Western Washington and stay home unless they absolutely need to travel.

All roads north of Bellingham have compact snow and ice. All lanes of southbound I-5 were blocked at milepost 263 in Ferndale by a jackknifed semi.

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Icy roads made driving conditions dangerous in the Bellingham area.

Heavy snow resulted in numerous collisions on I-90 and along I-405, and slowed traffic in both directions of I-5 between Kent and Federal Way, and between North Seattle and Snohomish County.

Highway 9 is closed between SR 534 and Bryant Road due to falling trees.

Much of the heaviest snowfall had been in northwest Washington's Whatcom County, with more than a foot falling in Ferndale by Monday morning. But later Monday, a low pressure system moved in over Island, Skagit and Snohomish counties, accompanied by an arctic front that was pushing more snow south into Seattle and King County.

Snow also brought down trees and power lines in northern Puget Sound, blocking major roads and knocking out power to 30,000 homes and businesses in Whatcom, Island and Kitsap counties. Utility crews are working to restore and repair damage done by the fallen power lines and trees.

East of the mountains, driving remained treacherous because of icy conditions in some areas, including Spokane, where police issued a warning for motorists to leave for work early and drive extra cautiously Monday morning.

An Amtrak train hit an unoccupied car near Mount Vernon. The train was damaged, but none of the passengers was injured.

Reported snow totals

KING / Courtesy Deb Crofutt

Deb Crofutt says nine miles south of the Canadian border in the town of Everson, the wind chill is -22 with snow drifts over five feet high.

Curious how much snow fell over the last couple of days? KING 5 viewers reported the following snow depths Sunday night/ Monday morning around Western Washington:

Ferndale 15”
Bellingham 4”-14”
San Juans 4”-9”
Maple Falls 12”
Port Townsend 5”
Everett 6”
Belfair 4”
Rockport 8”

The snowfall was capping off a month of heavy rain in Seattle - and was possibly enough to help make November the wettest single month since record-keeping began. As of Monday, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where official measurements are kept, had received 15.08 inches of precipitation - the most since 15.33 inches were recorded in downtown Seattle in December 1933.

Power outages

Snohomish PUD customers are the hardest hit with at least 26,000 outages. The worst of it is in the Arlington, Stanwood, and Camano Island areas.

Orcas Power & Light still has about 6,500 outages. They aren't expecting to have the San Juan Islands restored for another couple days.

Three shelters have opened on the islands: The Senior Center on Orcas Island, the Fire Hall on San Juan Island, and the old Senior Center Fire Station on Lopez Island.

Puget Sound Energy has about 2,000 customers without power. Most, if not all of them, will be back on by later Monday night.

What's coming?

On Tuesday, a few snow showers or flurries are still possible, but should end with partial clearing later in the morning and afternoon. The mountains could still pick up an additional 4 inches of snow.

AP

A truck moves around a fallen tree as heavy snow blanketed the area of Hwy 104 near Kingston, Wash.

The arrival of another system could bring renewed snowfall to Western Washington on Wednesday evening.

In Eastern Washington, temperatures were expected to drop to single digits later in the week - a concern considering that roads are already slick with ice and snow following snowfall Sunday and Monday. The storm dumped 5 inches of snow in Leavenworth, 7 inches in Winthrop, 8 inches in Kettle Falls and 3.5 inches in Spokane, where law enforcement agencies were swamped by traffic accident calls.

Washington State Patrol troopers had responded to 170 crashes in the Spokane area by Monday morning, Trooper Mark Baker said.

In Central Washington, which received as much as 7 inches of snow, a Bridgeport woman and her two sons died in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 2/97 near Orondo on Sunday evening.

In Southwestern Washington, a tractor-trailer jackknifed on Interstate 5, causing a 14-car accident with no major injuries, said State Patrol Sgt. Monica Hunter.

Classes were canceled in many school districts around the state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.