With forecasts calling for snow in the Puget Sound area this week, the scene of hundreds of cars slowly sliding around Interstate 5 for hours, pin-balling off each other while searching for traction, becomes a possibility once again.

While the Nov. 22 quagmire led to changes in the state Department of Transportation’s snow response, Bellevue’s plans helped keep city streets relatively clear.

The forecasts, as well as meteorologists’ warnings that the area will soon delve into the coldest and wettest portion of the La Nina winter weather system that many have compared to the treacherous 1950 system, will test the plans of Bellevue and surrounding municipalities.

When several inches of snow began to fall that Monday morning, Bellevue enacted its plan to immediately begin work on the city’s primary arterial routes. Crews cleared many of the main streets by mid-morning.

“Our strategy of getting arterials and other primary routes serviced first, that worked well, and then getting into the neighborhoods as quickly as possible,” said Mike Jackman, assistant director of utilities for Bellevue.

Throughout the day, Bellevue sent out warnings that plows couldn’t reach the higher neighborhoods in the city, which became problematic later in the day.

Just before 4:30 p.m., as snow continued to fall, a garage fire sparked by hot embers in a trash can began raging at the 14000 block of Southeast 47th Street in Somerset, one of the city’s highest points.

The fire destroyed the garage and two cars inside, but it never touched the main home which was detached from the garage.

The steep dead-end street, still packed with snow from the Monday storm, stopped fully-chained fire trucks and prevented a faster emergency response. With the blaze continuing to grow, firefighters eventually had to carry hoses up the arduous grade and hitch rides on smaller emergency vehicles to get to the scene.

“That situation, as unfortunate as it was, was a perfect storm of what we don’t want to see,” Jackman said.

The owners of the home praised Bellevue Fire Department’s efforts to get to the fire despite the tough conditions.

They said the streets just below the block were not plowed, which may have exacerbated for firefighters.

“It would have been nice if they had sanded 139th and Southeast 47th Street; could the trucks have gotten up any quicker?” said Tony Walker, the owner of the home. “Would it have made any difference? I don’t know. I feel the Fire Department did everything it could.”

The Walkers live 900 feet above sea level. The elevation of their home can pose problems during winter storms. While it may be all clear downtown and in low neighborhoods, Somerset and other higher elevations could see snow.

Families like the Walkers concede the risks of living on steep narrow roads for the beauty and peace areas like Somerset provide residents.

“We’re just accustomed to it,” said Edie Walker. “All the people who live up high know that’s how it is.”

City officials acknowledged following the fire a harsh reality that the machinery used in Bellevue, which receives snow less than a handful of times annually, cannot reach all areas, most specifically the highest elevations.

“We try to equip ourselves and prepare ourselves for the things that we are likely to face,” said Fire Department spokesman Lt. Eric Keenan. “We are prepared to a large degree for snow, but to prepare for every condition would require huge expense, or cause us to have things that wouldn’t really work for everyday use.”

Keenan said the department possess four-wheel drive vehicles that could traverse the conditions. Had the fire led to a medical emergency, ambulances could have made it to the home.

Bellevue is better equipped to deal with wind and rain storms, much more common entities in the region. One of each has already occurred this season, and meteorologists expect several more in the La Nina weather system throughout the year.

A Dec. 12 rain storm that dropped more than four inches in 24 hours throughout the region caused several road closures in Bellevue. Streets near Larsen Lake, specifically Northeast 21st east of 140th Avenue Northeast, Southeast Seventh off the Lake Hills Connector, 148th Avenue Southeast between Main Street and Southeast Eighth were closed due to the rain.

Jackman, the assistant utilities director, said Bellevue pre-designated detour routes for those roads, which face consistent risk of flooding during rain storms.

“We had everything ready to go so we can deploy it once we saw the waters begin to rise,” Jackman said.

Though the winter season began less than a month ago, there has been no shortage of unpredictable weather. But meteorologists said that the most damaging systems are likely to invade in January and February.

Dennis D’Amico a meteorologist with the Seattle branch of the National Weather Service said last week the La Nina system led to a wetter November and a colder December than historical averages.

Much of the worry over this system stems from a wide-spread a comparison of this coming winter to 1950, which saw two of the coldest days in the region’s history as well as a day of nearly two feet of snow.

“The correlation people are getting worked up about is we transitioned from an El Nino system very rapidly,” D’Amico said.

D’Amico predicts that as January progresses wetter conditions and colder temperatures will take hold.

The conditions will test Bellevue and other city’s weather planning. Jackman said the early storms reaffirmed the importance of Bellevue’s plan to keep main roads clear. Jackman said Bellevue’s plan evolves constantly as much of the authority goes to the crews in the field. They see what parts of town need the most attention, and they face the challenge of making the right split-second decision.

“We require command staff and operators to make judgment calls during real-time conditions,” he said. “We have a very nimble process to send plows where they are most needed in the spur of the moment.”