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Snow this morning could occur below 500’ elevation for many places around Puget Sound
A wintry mix of rain and snow will fall this morning and continue through the afternoon. Temperatures this morning are the key to where snow might fall or accumulate.
Most thermometers are registering lows this morning around 34 – 37 degrees. Places closer to the 34-degree mark are seeing snow mixed in with the rain. Places near the 37-degree mark are seeing just rain.
This winter mix today could yield some light accumulation of snow on grassy areas and places cooler than the surrounding areas. As the day progresses, the snow that does accumulate around the lowlands will melt quickly. Roads will be wet and slippery in many places – especially over bridges and overpasses – so travel with caution is a good idea today!
The high temperatures today should get close to 40 degrees, which means that all the lowland precipitation should turn over to rain after lunchtime. In the mountains, it’s a different story. A Winter Storm Warning is still posted today, and there could be another foot of snow over the passes by tomorrow morning. The snow level in the mountains today is running at a low elevation. Travelers over the passes will start to pick up the snow at 1,000 feet or lower.
Back to the lowlands for today — we’ll be closely watching for a slushy inch of snow accumulation (isolated spots could get somewhat more), which will be from the eastern side of the Seattle metro, including the Eastside from Bothell to Issaquah, then south through the South Sound, including Auburn, Tacoma, Maple Valley, and farther south into Thurston County. The best chances of accumulation that sticks around for a bit will still be above 200 feet in elevation, and especially above 500 feet in elevation, but where precipitation is heaviest, snow could briefly accumulate to sea level.
For places like downtown Seattle, the chances of one inch of snow accumulation are about 30%, but it’s worth noting that with this setup, where we have plenty of moisture, but temperatures are right on the edge of rain and snow, many more folks could “see” snow falling, though not accumulating. It could vary widely from place to place and with elevation differences.
A note about temperature: While we will have plenty of available moisture this time (it has been lacking on some of our recent flirtations with lowland snow), if temperatures near the surface or aloft are even a couple degrees warmer than expected, far more of the area would just get cold rain instead of wintry precipitation. So the chance of disappointment is still high!
Next, a note about snow accumulation vs. lingering snow depth: If an inch of snow falls at a lowland location, once it stops, melting will begin within minutes. The likelihood of hanging onto snow accumulation on roadways, especially is not high. However, if precipitation is heavy enough, there could be some travel issues for a time. We’ll be watching for any problem spots starting at 4:30 a.m. on KIRO 7 on Friday morning.
We could see some flurries Saturday morning and perhaps a brief dusting in higher foothill locations, but we’ll be drier for much of Saturday with some afternoon sun in spots. Highs will be in the 40s. Some rain is expected back on Sunday, with most of the showers in the northern parts of the area.
Early next week, it is significantly warmer with highs in the 50s with occasional rain.
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