News

Surprise! Spring snow falls in some areas

Though it’s spring, people in the North Sound and other areas woke up to yards and roads blanketed with surprise snow, causing school delays and tricky driving conditions.
The snow began falling Thursday in east King County and overnight in the convergence zone in Snohomish County.

EVERETT, Wash. — “A northwest-southeast oriented ribbon of convergence produced heavy snow for parts of Snohomish and far northeast King County from around 3 a.m. to after 8 a.m.,” said KIRO 7 Meteorologist Morgan Palmer.

Palmer said the heaviest snowfall appeared to be from the south Everett/Boeing/Paine Field area southeast through Clearview and Maltby. 
 One to 3 inches of snow appeared to fall closer to the water with a bit more in the inland or upslope areas. 

Some snow also fell in eastern King County Friday morning at about 1,000 feet.  Seattle received a few flurries.  Got snow photos?  Upload them here!

The state Department of Transportation temporarily closed Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass between Ellensburg and North Bend on Thursday evening, citing snowy conditions and spun-out vehicles.
Mountain passes are forecast to receive 2-5 more inches of snow Friday.
Compact snow, ice and spin-outs also temporarily closed a portion of State Highway 18 over Tiger Mountain, about 25 miles east of Seattle.
The morning commute in the North Sound was tricky for drivers.  Crashes were reported across the area and the Washington State Patrol closed Highway 522 at State Route 9 because of heavy snow.
  The National Weather Service office in Portland, Ore., said a weak tornado packing winds of 65 to 85 mph ripped apart a barn in Hockinson, Wash., near Vancouver Thursday. No one was hurt.

KIRO 7 meteorologist Morgan Palmer said in the afternoon, snow in the convergence zone will subside and warming temperatures will turn the snow to rain.  Get the 5-day forecast.

A few showers will be possible in the zone across Whidbey and Camano islands as well as Snohomish County and upslope northeast King County through the afternoon.   Most of the showers will be in the form of cold rain, with some snow mixed in above 500 feet, Palmer said.

“Skies will become partly cloudy tonight and some spots will drop below freezing tonight, mainly away from the water.   Most of us will have the coldest night in about two weeks. Locations that had precipitation today might well find some of that moisture that’s left re-frozen by Saturday morning, but this won’t be a big problem,” Palmer said.

Spring-like weather will gradually return this weekend and early next week.