It was a blustery Saturday in the neighborhood, I would say. One of those hang-on-to-your-hat and close-your-umbrella days. Gusty winds Saturday pushed local wind gauges to the 30-35 mph range. With those south to southwest winds, we reached the balmy mid-50s for afternoon highs. It won’t be that mild again for quite a while. Are you ready? Hang on, here we go.
All kinds of winter weather advisories were issued locally and for all of Western Washington, even the coastal communities, for rain changing to snow today through tonight. Between 1 and 4 inches could fall mainly above that magical 500-foot level we always hear about.
Since the precipitation that arrives with the cold air will be showery in nature, some areas may have some white on the ground and others nothing. If it does snow down to sea level, much of it could melt by sundown tonight. Then skies clear, and the temperature drops into the 20s. Wet roadways would turn icy tomorrow morning. Good thing it is a holiday. Many will be off the roads, especially school buses.
Will there be enough snow for sledding with the kids? Probably not at low levels. But up near a thousand feet in our foothills, yes. We could get a surprise later today and receive more snow than forecast models show. As of Saturday afternoon, they indicate drier air entering the area when the coldest air arrives. We’ll see.
