This afternoon I biked home in light snow and it was magical. And the Northwest will enjoy a lot of snowflake magic during the next week.
Tonight (Monday) it is cold enough to snow with any significant precipitation intensity.
The latest radar shows two precipitation snowbands from two convergence zones: one downstream of the Olympics and the other downwind of the mountains of Vancouver Island (see below). Snow is being observed in both.
The latest NOAA HRRR model forecast predicts more snow in these two bands (see the one-hour snowfall ending at midnight below). Perhaps an inch in favored areas. But nothing that will really cause much of a problem in the western lowlands.
But the big action is still ahead...not for the lowlands, but for the mountains. Very heavy snowfalls. And then another chance for lowland snow on Sunday.
Tomorrow afternoon a vigorous Pacific warm front will move across our coast, bringing strong, moist southwesterly winds that will push up local terrain. The map at around 5000 ft (850 hPa pressure) on Wednesday morning at 4 AM illustrates the situation. Very strong winds from the southwest at that level. This is a very wet pattern
No more snow at low elevations, but feet of snow will fall in the mountains. The accumulated snow total through 1 AM Thursday is shown below. 3 feet in some places
Later this week, a supercold upper-level trough will settle over our offshore waters, leaving western Washington and Oregon quite cold, with rain and snow showers even near sea level. Northern California gets hit hard with rain and snow.
All and all, very good news for West Coast water supplies and regional skiing.
We had hail (or maybe graupel of unusual size?) up to nearly 1/2in diameter in Everett. The ground was completely covered in about 10 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI looked at the weather radar afterwards and sure enough, there was a bright red spot on it that passed directly overhead.
I see the NWS forecast is calling for lots of rain and lots of wind on Wednesday.
I agree with the observation of this type of snowfall being magical--especially when it disappears after hitting the ground! This winter, so far, has been so moderate, and comfortable.
ReplyDeleteConvergence. That was the key word for us on South Whidbey. We got about five inches of snow and we're halfway between Langley and 525. Most of it came after 10:00 last night. A lonely coyote stumbled through the thick carpet.
ReplyDeleteCo-Worker lives near Paine Field, they got 7 inches. Shoreline? Zilch. Just frost. The hail was interesting to ride in yesterday. For a while anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a real feast or famine winter, at least for the mountains.
ReplyDeleteNear Freeland on Whidbey we got about 8", the local school district closed school for the day. Good call for them. The winter storm warning was a good call for the NWS
ReplyDeleteYes, it's been a wild ride so far! In the last 24 hours we experienced hail-graupel, and two snow events totalling nearly 3", most has melted, but just about anything could (and probably will) happen over the coming days given the bands of "incoming" visible on the GOES-WEST satellite loops. Thanks for the updates!
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