The icy rain is coming down in Eastlake at this hour (8 a.m.). Streets look icy and empty.

Seattle Public Utilities says no garbage pick up today. Metro remains on snow routing.

If your Eastlake business is open this morning, either post in the comments below or email me at curtmilton@comcast.net or Tweet us at @EastlakeAve.

Be careful out there!

If you're driving to Eastlake, you'd better have a place to park because there aren't many spaces left.

People are circling the blocks in a vain attempt to find a place to park for the fireworks show at 10 p.m. But spaces are few and Parking Enforcement officers are towing people who park where they shouldn't.

Shortly after 3 p.m., tow trucks were removing three vehicles from the north side of E. Lynn beside the Eastlake Zoo and the Dog Zone. One distraught woman returned a few minutes later to find her car gone. The spaces are clearly marked as a "no parking" zone.

If you need to park, there are spaces available for $15 in the garage under the office building at Eastlake and Hamlin.

A large fireworks explosion on Rogers Playfield drew police attention shortly before 5 p.m. Two officers stopped by minutes later and talked to folks there, presumably warning them to not repeat the blast.

One group has erected a large tent at Rogers Playfield and they're sitting inside, waiting for the rain to quit. Another group is under the trees where it's drier. And yet another group is picnicing on the porch at Seward School.

There isn't a street party on Minor Avenue E. this year, but Christina Choi from Nettletown is cooking in the 2200 block of Minor. She's serving bratwurst sandwiches, beef short ribs and tofu sandwiches, along with desserts.

And, yes, it is raining. It's not a heavy rain but it is wet and doesn't seem inclined to quit just yet. Only in Seattle would people party and barbecue outside in the rain. But, this IS Seattle. 

Stay dry!

At least, that's what the Seattle Parks Department is saying. They've closed all city playfields yesterday and today (Saturday) due to the rain and muddy field conditions.

Their press release says: "All baseball and softball games and practices have been cancelled for today and tomorrow."

Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad says in an e-mail that her understanding is that the fields are closed to organized play. 

"That doesn't mean we'll be policing the fields to shoo folks off if they're enjoying the park," she adds, "although, with the weather we've had it's hard to imagine too many folks wanting to be hang on wet, muddy fields in the cold."

Remind me: Weren't we all wearing shorts just last week?

UPDATE: Added a few comments and a photo. The original post is below the line.

6:27 p.m.: Adding audio clip of evening rain.

There's lots of water coming down off Capitol Hill and running through Eastlake's streets this morning, but it's been worse. A plugged storm drain at Eastlake and Hamlin had resulted in a big puddle (see photo).

The Seattle Department of Transportation had e-mailed a few days ago asked residents to clean plugged drains if they noticed them so, if you're so inclined, scrape some leaves out of the way to help get the water off the streets.

Lots of leaves in the streets after the storm but I didn't see any other damage during my quick tour. Anyone else notice anything?

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Another big thunderclap just exploded over Eastlake. And that comes after last night's booming and pounding by thunder, rain and hail.

Any weather stories to tell? Storm drains backed up? Did your lights go out or flicker? Post your comments here and tell us about how the storm appeared from where you lived.

Yikes! Looks like autumn decided not to wait until after Labor Day, as is customary. It's pouring buckets in Eastlake and across Seattle. Water is running down the alley behind my place and everything is drenched.

What are you seeing? Any plugged storm drains? I'll take a look around but let me know if you see anything flooding or soaked or whatever. And stay dry!

Here's what the rain sounded like just a few minutes ago:

And all over the city, it appears. Sounds nice to hear the drops coming down through the leaves on the tree at the end of my deck. Here's a little sample:

Weather expert Cliff Maas was at Eastlake resident Monica Guzman's Big Blog meetup last night. He says the super hot weather is over for the summer, but nice days will continue.

What are your weather thoughts?