A Look Into The Storm

 Well it is going to be an interesting 48 hours coming up. We will have snow, ice, sleet, rain, wind, basically everything on the weather bingo card in the next 2 days.  A strong and moist Pacific system will move into the area tomorrow evening, spreading precipitation into a very cold and dry air mass. A ripe set up for a snowstorm in the PNW.  Current satellite imagery shows moisture moving into Oregon.  This moisture will spread north and with the cold temperatures in place, it will bring wintry weather to the lowlands of Oregon and Washington. Winter and ice storm warnings are out for Portland and the Willamete valley. This storm will work effectively to scour out cold air in the upper levels so I expect precipitation type to quickly transition to freezing rain and sleet south of Salem. However, upper levels should stay just cold enough for precipitation to remain snow north of Wilsonville.  The low will pull east winds out of the gorge, keeping things very ...

 It has been an impressive stretch of cold (and snowy) weather so far! Temperatures for the first 11 days of February have been solidly below average and will continue to be so for the next couple of days. But all good (or bad) things have to come to an end and so will this pattern. However, before that we have more wintry weather to go through. Temperatures will once again get very cold tonight, and we have cold weather advisories in place for that threat. Skies will be clear once again tomorrow, which will make for a nice, clear day, albeit a bit chilly. Then tomorrow evening, a system begins spreading precipitation into Oregon. With cold temperatures in place, most of this will start of as snow, but this system will scour out the the upper level cold quickly and this should transition to freezing rain and sleet for the Eugene to Salem area.  Moisture continues to move north on Thursday, entering the Portland area around 9 AM. Temperatures will be plenty cold for snow in Por...

It turned out to be quite a chilly day as the north winds began to push into the Puget Sound later in the day. Many spots should get quite chilly tonight as clear skies work with just a bit of snow cover. Widespread low 20's and maybe even some teens will be possible!! Make sure to protect pipes, plants and pets. Dress warm if you are going out on this chilly evening!! More of the same tomorrow and Wednesday with very cold temperatures likely. Then things get interesting on Thursday as a strong storm approaches the coast with very cold temperatures in place. As always, the placement and strength of the low will decide who sees what and how much of it. And unfortunately, as it is with Western Wa and snow, lots of uncertainty exists.  Right now, all the models agree that on Thursday, a low pressure system, fairly strong too, will begin to approach us from the southwest. At this point, temperatures all over the area are in the 20's and upper levels are plenty cold. But after this,...

 Well that was a fun week for a lot of people, an upper level low stalled out over the coast, pinwheeling snow showers into the area. Accumulations were spotty and melted through the day, but many areas saw several inches of accumulation through the week. Officially, SeaTac measured 2.3 inches total from this week's snow. Now we look to cool down even more as the next shot of cold air enters the area. Before that, there is a weak disturbance in the area tonight which will bring some snow showers to the area tonight and tomorrow. Accumulations should be meager with most only receiving a dusting or so, maybe up to an inch or two with some favorable banding. Roads may be a bit icy tomorrow but things should get betters as temperatures rise in the day. Next week, we will get glanced by another shot of cold air heading east. We are already plenty cold at this moment and this will act as a reinforcing shot. We will really begin to feel the cold on Tuesday as a chilly north wind ushers in...

 We are very close to tonight's snow potential and models still have no idea what will happen. Looking at Sattelite imagery, the low pressure we have been tracking looks to be a bit north of Hoquiam. How north this low goes will determine which area gets the most moisture. Earlier this area looked to be King County and the Central Sound, but now this area may have shifted a bit northwest. Northern King County and the Kitsap peninsula.  As I said earlier, this looks to be a bit more widespread in terms of moisture, but temps look to be more marginal so elevation will definitely aid with snow. Looking at the graphic below, the area circled in blue will have the most access to moisture tonight. In this area, places above 500 feet should see 2-8 inches of snow. Below that, 1-3 inches of snow seems likely. Another wildcard going into tonight is the deformation band as the low passes to the south of us, the models are struggling to nail that feature but if it does form then areas un...

 Well that was a pleasant surprise, many places in the Central Sound received anywhere between 1-3 inches of snow overnight, making for some nice morning views!! It also made for a messy morning commute and there were several crashes on I-405 near Bellevue.  Moving on, a vigorous band of moisture is slowly making it's way up the coast and into Western Washington.  Temps rest close to freezing in most of Western Wa, and upper levels remain plenty cold so all of this should fall in the form of snow. The uncertainty remains in terms of amounts and if/when/where a deformation band forms later in the evening as the low passes to the South of us.  Right now on Sat imagery, the low seems to be moving north but has picked up some eastward movement, if the low comes inland and south of Seattle, it would set up a band of snow over the Central Sound. This is the wildcard at this moment as models continue to waver on where this sets up. At this point, it looks like the Kitsap Pe...

Well I feel like I am on repeat now but more snow is possible for Western Washington tomorrow.  The low off our coast that has been giving us our snow for the past few days will bring in another round of moisture, starting as early as tonight.  Around midnight tonight, moisture from the south will make it's way up north. This will be fairly scattered, similar to the past couple of days so snowfall amounts should stay on the lighter side. At this time only expecting a light coating for most areas but up to an inch of snow will be possible in areas where the showers train over. The real potential will be tmrw evening when that low moves closer and spins up a slow moving band of moisture up the Puget Sound. As usual, there is a lot of uncertainty as to where the band sets up and the amount of precip associated with the band. At this time, I think the HRRR model represents the most likely scenario as seen below. As you can see, the band enters the area around 3 PM tmrw, at that po...

We saw plenty of snow showers leading to some accumulation all across Western Washington, but most of it melted through the day. Tonight we face the threat for accumulating snow through the I-5 and I-405 corridors as a deformation band sets up. As seen on radar, band of snow will form in the south and track north across the Puget Sound. Since it is night and temps are close to freezing, it will not be too difficult for snow to stick, including main roads. A lot of uncertanity exists as to where these bands set up and how intense they will be so you can pretty much throw out all the models for the next 12 hours as this will be a watch the radar sort of event.  WWA's are out for the central Sound for up to two inches of snow, this is a good move from the NWS considering the amount of uncertainty. I will also go for 1-3 inches for most of the central Sound, however areas where the bands train over could see more than that.   This is a tricky forecast and I may do another upd...

 Well, that was a fun day for a lot of the Puget Sound. Many areas saw bursts of snow throughout the day, however not much in terms of accumulations for most areas. Some favored areas that I pointed out in my blog yesterday saw an inch or two of accumulation. Tonight, winter weather advisories are out for most of the Western Washington, excluding the Puget Sound. There will be a general lull for most of the area tonight, before some more precipitation enters the area tmrw morning. By this point, temps will be cold enough throughout the Puget Sound for all precipitation to fall in the form of snow and minor accumulations will be possible. Expect 1-3 inches of snow in areas with the winter weather advisories. Some hi-res models have also been showing an organized band of snow entering the area tmrw morning and impacting the central Sound, this will be something to watch for on radar tmrw. Expect a fairly active Sunday as precipitation coverage will increase as the low moves closer to...