Wintry weather possible later this week

TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY: We have had a few showers of snow or even ice pellets in spots like Marysville this afternoon. As drier air is working in from the north, expect these showers to continue to dry up through tonight, although pretty slowly. On Tuesday, we’ll see some possible flurries around the area but it looks too dry for any substantial precipitation. Highs will be in the 40s except 30s in Bellingham where the cold dry wind out of British Columbia will be picking up.

WEDNESDAY: The chance for some light precipitation moving through in the form of rain and snow but minimal accumulations are expected Wednesday. The bigger story Wednesday will be the increasing winds around the region with gusts well over 20mph. Combined with temperatures in the 30s for most and 20s near the Canadian border, wind chills will be in the teens at times. This will be the beginning of a three-day period of cold and windy weather that will be dangerous for people who are unsheltered or homeless as well as for outdoor pets.

THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY: There is great uncertainty as to how much snow could fall in Western Washington, or even if we’ll see snow at all! We have several issues at work Thursday and Thursday night. First, we will have that continued cold and very dry air moving out of British Columbia and central Washington. While it’s certainly cold enough to support snowfall even down to sea level at any time of day or night (highs only in the 30s both Thursday and Friday), the air is so dry that it could “eat up” snowflakes that try to fly out of clouds. Will the moisture be enough to eventually overcome that very dry air? It could if the track of the weather system we’re watching moving in comes across Western Washington. However, today’s forecast models are pushing more of that moisture south of the Seattle area into areas south of Puget Sound or even all the way down to far southern Washington.

It’s a very good bet that there will be significant snowfall somewhere in Washington to northern Oregon but where that snow occurs – and the northern edge of the snow – will be what we’re watching for carefully in the coming days. There is a scenario where areas from Seattle north get little to no snow while the South Sound and points into Southern Washington get many inches of snow, the more the farther south. But if forecast trends continue, the greatest impacts could well be south of our area. Stay tuned.

WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK: Unclear, but it will be cold enough for wintry precipitation if we have ample moisture. Just what might happen will become more apparent later this week. It does appear we come out of the deep chill somewhere around Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Cox Media Group