WeatherWatcher: Windy day and Snow on the way

 

From the archives, wet snow in Shoreline on April 18, 2008.
Photo by Carl Dinse

Sunday's windstorm wasn't strong enough to issue any advisories or warnings for the area. We did receive gusts on average to 30-33mph as forecasted by the National Weather Service in Seattle. Some exposed spots got up to 43mph along the Puget Sound in Richmond Beach. Paine Field in southwest Everett also recorded a gust of 45mph at 2:21 PM. I prefer to use Paine Field as an official reference because it is located much closer to Shoreline and Lake Forest Park (~10 miles) than SeaTac airport which is around 26 miles away.

Sunday's windstorm is the warmup before the cold arrives. Behind this windstorm is a bunch of cold air over the northeast Pacific Ocean moving southwest down the coast through Washington State tonight. This air is cold enough to set us back into more of a winter climate for a week.

Forecast: Winds are expected to ease Sunday evening as cold air starts to take over. Temperatures are expected to drop into the low to mid 30's with precipitation in the area. Overnight into Monday morning temperatures could cool enough to bring the snow level down to about 500 feet or lower. 

Monday morning, expect rain or snow showers, or a mixture of both. The showers are expected to continue through Monday afternoon and evening. After midnight Monday night the snow level is expected to come down to sea-level with all showers falling in the form of snow. Tuesday will be more of the same, with a chance of snow showers, mixing with rain or changing over to rain during the afternoon hours.

Accumulations for Monday and Tuesday are expected to be minimal, except where the convergence zone forms, which could be anywhere from just north of Everett all the way to Downtown Seattle. Areas under the convergence zone could get a quick 1-4 inches of snow before it melts off Wednesday. 

Current forecast models show the convergence zone forecasted for South Everett into north Lynnwood but those are difficult to predict even with today's models. Most of the snow fall is expected between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon.

Another windstorm is expected Wednesday, giving us a brief break in the wintery temperatures with highs going up towards 50°F. Rain is expected as well with this windstorm, with rain lasting into Wednesday night and continuing Thursday. Cooler air returns overnight Thursday into Friday morning with another threat of lowland snow to follow. The second round of cold air is expected to last through the weekend.

Details for the cold and snow next Friday are fuzzy right now, too far away to get an accurate forecast still. Friday's forecast though has been looking more and more like our best chance so far this winter at accumulating lowland snow. I'll be watching the forecasts closely and provide an update as we get closer.

For current weather conditions visit: www.shorelineweather.com