Update: 11 a.m., Wednesday Residential garbage, recycling, food and yard waste collection has been delayed in today due to dangerous road conditions. Wednesday residential customers will be collected next Wednesday Dec. 31.

The city?s collections contractors have been running limited commercial routes around the clock this week, providing service urgent commercial accounts where containers are accessible. Service priorities include hospitals, health facilities, grocers and other accounts with severe capacity constraints.

?The collections crews are working around the clock to reach priority hospitals, health facilities, grocers and other urgent accounts with limited capacity,? according to Hans Van Dusen, solid waste contracts manager for Seattle Public Utilities.

?They have about 35 trucks out today in Seattle with full chains and double crews to reach the vital accounts. However, snow accumulation is still hampering access to streets, alleys and many commercial containers.?

Residential collections were suspended Thursday Dec. 18, through today, Wednesday Dec. 24, due to snow fall and road conditions. Limited commercial routes have been run Monday through Wednesday this week reaching approximately 30 percent of the businesses accounts in the city. Contractors are continually inspecting all neighborhoods throughout the day for service opportunities.

Due to the Christmas holiday on Dec. 25, Thursday and Friday customers will be delayed one day. Thursday customers will be collected Friday, Dec. 26, and Friday customers will be collected Saturday, Dec. 27.

Customers whose collections have been delayed by a week can set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers. Customers who have had their collections missed two weeks in a row can also take their waste to Seattle?s Recycling and Disposal Stations, where it will be accepted at no charge. \

Seattle?s recycling and disposal stations, at South Park and Wallingford, are open today, but will be closed on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and New Year?s Day, January 1.

Update: 9:30 a.m., Wedenesday Weather forecast from the National Weather Service: snow and rain.

Christmas Eve, Wednesday Rain. High near 36. South southeast wind around 14 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 18 miles per hour. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent.

Tonight; Rain before 10 p.m., then snow showers. Snow level 600 feet lowering to 0 feet. Low around 32. South wind between 9 and 13 miles per hour. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Christmas Day, Thursday Rain and snow showers, mainly after 10 a.m. High near 38. South southeast wind 6 to 8 miles per hour becoming north northwest. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Christmas night; A chance of rain and snow showers before 10 p.m., then a chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 28. North northwest wind around 10 miles per hour, becoming southwest. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.

Rain is expected Friday through Tuesday, with highs in the mid 40's and lows in the mid 30's.

Update: 8:45 a.m., Wednesday Today the Seattle Department of Transportation is plowing, de-icing and sanding inbound routes around the city. Three of those trucks are devoted solely to the West Seattle Bridge and the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

The department advises that motorists drive slowly as they move around the city for work and holiday shopping. Arterials are plowed with passable road conditions.

Currently, 18 trucks are plowing, sanding and de-icing city streets.

The city's decision to not use rock salt to de-ice the streets due to its environmentally unfriendly impact to to the Puget Sound, has been a controversial one stranding many people at home as many roads remain impassable.

Crews have been employing sand and de-icer to clear streets during the snowstorm.

Allied Waste/Republic Services is not running any residential service in Seattle this Christmas Eve and just 50 percent of the commercial routes are running.

Update: 5:15 p.m., Tuesday Due to still-icy streets in many areas and the possibility of more snow overnight, Metro will be operating approximately half of its regular weekday service on Wednesday, Dec. 24.