March 09, 2009

snow update

If it is going to snow signficantly in Seattle and the adjacent lowlands--it will be later this afternoon as the low rotates southeastward. This morning Seattle was rainshadowed by the westerly winds....and the eastern suburbs and foothills areas got a few inches. But as the low moves over (or even better south) of us the rainshadowing will weaken and the northerly winds will strengthen...that is when we will get it. You can see the enhanced cloud over the NW Olympic Peninsula...associated with the low..moving this way. The game is not over yet...although there are no guarantees here...

43 comments:

  1. They are sure getting nailed to our north. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/us2_sr204_interchange.htm

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  2. Still snowing in Bellingham, gusty winds out of the NE, temp about 31, 1.5'' on the ground at 150 ft from sea level. CT

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  3. Lake Stevens, 12:25pm, Elevation 300', approx 30F No wind

    Well, thinks went from normal to crazy in about 1 hour. We have a good 4 or 5 inches on the ground, accumulating REALLY fast with 2 or 3 inches covering ALL roads. Anything from snohomish city north (and mainly Hwy 2 north) is a disaster right now.

    Snow started to come down just after 10am, within an hour we had 2 inches, within 2 hours we had 2 on the road and 5 or so elsewhere and it's still snowing very hard.

    Do not drive if you can avoid it. In my short trip to the grocery store and back I saw 2 accidents and 2 spinouts (only a 3 mile trip for me), and 1 stuck van with multiple vehicles not making it up our neighborhood hill anymore.

    My guess, we'll see another 2 to 5 inches on top of what we have before this is done...it's accumulating really really fast.

    I'll report again in a couple hours or when it stops.

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  4. East of North Bend off I-90, Exit 34, 700'

    We had another 2 inches this morning. Right now we have low wispy clouds, but a lot of sunshine as well. It's actually quite beautiful. However, we are girding ourselves for another blast later this afternoon if Cliff is right.....and he almost always is.

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  5. Snowing in Ferndale, WA, and has been all morning since I arrived at ~7. Snow all the way up I5, increasing as I drove north. Numerous spin outs, some aid cars for injury accidents.

    Snow and slush on side streets. Snow is very cold, turning from flakes to pellets (not sure of official snow type) but not hail.

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  6. Looks like the winds have shifted and the rainshadow is finally diminishing. Snow is starting to pick up on Snoqualmie Ridge.

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  7. Dumping in Kirkland right now. No accumulation - yet.

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  8. Hey Eric, can you post if it starts to accumulate? I have kids to pick up in Kirkland...

    I"m in the Safeco tower looking east, and while we are in sunshine here it looks like most of the eastside is getting it hard. The downtown Bellevue skyscrapers
    are fading in and out of view.

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  9. Nicky,

    It has stopped for now (with just over an inch on the road), but I just heard some thunder, so we may be in for some more.

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  10. Now its partly sunny in Bellingham, gusty out of the NE and pushing 36f. CT

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  11. ... and now it is snowing like crazy in the U district.

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  12. Really snowing in Wallingford.

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  13. As seen from the north end of Belltown, Queen Anne is completely obscured by a huge wall of snow.

    Snowmonster is here!

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  14. Weird. I was just in Redmond and it was DUMPING pellets (about bb sized) and then drove up to Sammamish expecting snow, and not a lot going on up here. Odd. We're right in the path, not sure what's blocking.

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  15. seems better to watch the traffic cams than the Doppler, it is all so very localized. A whole new meaning of the phrase "micro climate." thunder heard on Mercer Island a half hour ago...

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  16. looks like a bad movie set in south Renton....blowing snow everywhere.

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  17. 2:07 Bremerton. Big flakes and lots of them. Not sticking, yet.
    Sara, at OC

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  18. I wish I knew why Sammamish manages to stay out of the snow area....hardly anything going on right now, and friends in Redmond say they are getting hammered.

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  19. It's been snowing hard and accumulating in South Seattle on the hills (Rainier View neighborhood) since Sunday night. It's a winter wonderland up here above Skyway. This morning, driving down into Rainier Valley, and barely any sign of snow at all. It was a cool transition within barely a couple of miles.

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  20. Bothell 300 ft

    It's a winter wonderland here. About 2" of snow and it's sticking to the roads.

    If you work in the south end, but live up north, you might want to check the traffic cameras.

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  21. Now it's pretty much stopped in Sammamish. Seriously -- do we have a giant umbrella over us?

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  22. Snowing hard in west seattle by the water. Not sticking yet, do you think it will stick much in the city?

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  23. Just started snowing very, very lightly again here east of North Bend. Not dumping like it did this morning. It was sunny about 5 minutes ago.

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  24. So is driving from Seattle to Camano island on not super great for snow tires a really bad plan this afternoon? Anyone up there who could let me know? And if we do go should we bring a sled?

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  25. Sticking to the roads now here in Sammamish where I am. Coming down steady and the temp has decreased about 3 degrees to just 33.7.

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  26. okay, apparently it's weirder than that -- in Sammamish proper, it's snowing like mad. But we live up near Blackwell, right between sahalee golf course and the ridge, and I'm wondering why we get an entirely different experience than literally an eighth of a mile down the road in either direction. I have never been able to figure it out -- wind current coming off the lake and up the hill blowing it over like a wing?

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  27. Graupel in Olympia right now. At least it wasn't bouncing like hail.

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  28. I'm in 98122 and it's coming down like small hail?

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  29. Athos -

    I don't know where in Sammamish you are, but in the Pine Lake/Klahanie area we've got at least a 1/2" accumulated and its sticking on the side streets - coming down fairly hard for the last hour.

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  30. I don't know, but it's sunny again here east of North Bend. We've had about a foot of snow since last Thursday and it's not going away. Just unburied all my rhodies so they can get dumped on again.

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  31. Clear and sunny in Bellingham now. Temps in the low 30's.

    The strong sun is frying our mini-blizard off the roads and roofs. Pretty much everything is clear and bare around town at least. Still a strong NE wind though.

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  32. Feeling like a Snow Globe here in Downtown Seattle!

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  33. I guess we have Sammamish covered, I am about midway between the other two Sammamish folks in the Vintage area off of SE 8th and its been on and off for a while but coming down pretty hard now, and definitely sticking.

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  34. Light snow in Gig Harbor, waiting for the good stuff to hit!

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  35. Dry air moving in over the NW interior. Snow in the morning over GP demolition site, Dust over the site now.

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  36. Amazing- no snow, no trace, and sunshine to the NW at the Ballard Locks.

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  37. Ohhh nooo! The sun has come out in Mill Creek and all the lovely snow (3.5") is melting...

    Is there more to come?

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  38. Letting up in Sammamish, and the sky is getting brighter, so I assume this is winding down.

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  39. West Olympia, SPSCC (Cliff will be here 3/16):
    9 am botany: A good inch of snow over all. Rhody leaves curled up, yellow-cedar droopy with snow. Snow is visible precipitation - see where it lands around trees and on maple branches. See why mosses grow there?
    11 am botany: effects of aspect - S-facing slope now snow-free except behind plants, N-aspect still snowy. Snow slid off the yellow-cedars - well-adapted to mountains!
    11:20 - sudden gusts of arctic-type(?) air. Compare insulation of snow & jackets to bare plants, faces & hands. Alpine ridges!
    Perfect timing - snow during a genetics-ecology transition. Thanks Cliff!
    Diane Doss

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  40. OK....snowing east of North Bend now. And accumulating....I've already got one car stuck in the driveway, going to move the other to the road just in case.....I hope this is the last blast...I'm getting sick of snow.

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