Downtown Winlock is seen early Monday afternoon.
Snow surrounds the World's Largest Egg in Winlock Monday afternoon.
By Monday afternoon, Winlock was still blanketed with snow, but the main roads were mostly slush or at least had tire tracks that made conditions easier. Winlock no longer saw snow falling, but instead a steady rain for the next few hours. Many residents had already prepared for the storm on Friday.
“Friday, before the storm hit, we did double our normal Friday business,” said Winlock IGA owner Raleigh Stone.
Stone said the store had been receiving calls throughout the day, asking if IGA was open. Three of his employees were snowed in and couldn’t make it to work.
“When the first snow came in, it was crazy,” said IGA employee Debbie Reilly. “Everybody thinks it’s the end of the world. Our shelves were bare. … I got a two-wheel drive pickup and I slid yesterday. So last night when I was working, I got the snowshovel out and loaded the back with snow. I took my tarp off today. … It’s a lot of weight.”
Stone and Reilly both said the store has sold a lot of milk, bread, produce and meat over the last few days.
“I think they want to stock up on those, because they are afraid they might not be able to get out for three or four days,” Stone said. “So they want to make sure they have enough food on hand.”
Reilly also works in the meat department.
“We couldn’t even keep our meat counters full this last week — and we cut a lot,” Reilly said.
Reilly said while most people were driving to the store by that point, they were still struggling in the parking lot.
“I’m ready for spring,” she said.
Outside, two IGA customers chatted for a few minutes before heading home. Alyx Ammons said he took the day off work to be with his 9-month-old daughter. Seth Stiltner said the roads he drove that morning were rough.
“So far, North Military seems to be the worst,” Stiltner said. “... It’s just straight ice, to be honest. I can’t go over five miles per hour without spinning my tires. … Napavine is okay. I’ve only drove to Napavine and here. … I’ve just been stocking up on groceries while I can. I don’t know how bad it’s going to actually get.”
The only business that appeared open on Northeast First Street, other than the Post Office, was True Value Hardware. The Club Tavern didn’t open until 2:30 p.m., but April Pennington, a Club employee, was standing out front with Viola Rowton, who owns All About Accounting in Winlock, does the bookkeeping for the Club and fills in for staff occasionally.
“Friday night was wild,” Rowton said. “It was packed until about quarter to 2 (a.m.) when I kicked them all out. I said, ‘It’s time to leave. I’m tired. I want to go home.’ … First day of snow they are always out playing.”
The last two days at the Club were slow, though, Pennington said. She didn’t expect much business Monday.
Winlock True Value Hardware owner Glen Cook said he sold quite a few sleds, bags of salt and pipes over the weekend. Sunday was a busy day for True Value Hardware.
Cook said he didn’t see this amount of snow last year, and began with a large pile of sleds in his shop Friday. By Monday afternoon, he only had two left. The rain started about 1:30 p.m., though, and kids were already done sledding.
Winlock Public Works superintendent Mike Fisher spent the day clearing roads in Winlock with the city’s only snowplow. He said he expects ice Tuesday morning and plans to salt the roads.
“We have continually been hitting it (the roads) since it snowed and we’re trying to do the best we can to keep up on it,” Fisher said. “... We’re just going to continue to keep an eye on everything. It’s not over yet, so we will just be ready to go.”
