Winter is NOT Over: Strong Wind, Heavy rain, and Substantial Mountain Snow Ahead

Tomorrow and Thursday should bring very active weather to our region, including bountiful precipitation, heavy mountain snow, and gusty winds.

Local ski areas don't mince words.  They are terming this "Miracle March":

But many old weather hands expected this transition, and the models have been hinting at it for a while.

First, the winds.   A modest low-pressure center will make landfall on Vancouver Island, producing a strong north-south pressure difference over western Washington ( see map below)

That means strong southerly winds.  Turning to the Seattle WindWatch system, the forecast maximum wind gusts will accelerate to around 40 mph over Seattle late tomorrow afternoon.  Not the end of the world, but expect a few scattered power outages.

South of the low, a potent atmospheric river will approach the Northwest coast, bringing heavy precipitation.

The forecast accumulated precipitation through Saturday morning is shown below, with up to ten inches (of liquid water) in the southern Cascades.  EXACTLY where it is needed most. Plenty elsewhere.

And temperatures will be sufficiently cold so that the Cascades will get a massive snow dump (total through Friday afternoon shown below).  Yellow and white colors are two feet or more. Ski folds will be happy.

Again, just where it was needed the most.

The National Weather Service has a blizzard warning out for the Cascades and Olympics, plus a wind advisory for most of western Washington.

This winter started as a lion (heavy rain and flooding), turned into a lamb, and reverted back to a lion again.