Dry Easterly Winds Scour Out Snow

Easterly winds out of the Cascades have effectively ended the chance of snow Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Easterly winds tend to dry the air and warm the temperature...scouring out precipitation and being hostile to snow.

Some areas saw brief snowflakes, but no accumulation occurred in the lowlands. Snow has accumulated in parts of Grays Harbor County, the Kitsap Peninsula, SW WA, and the Portland/Salem area.

As of 9:15 PM Tuesday, relative humidity in the South Sound was around 40-80% and temperatures were in the upper 30s-low 40s.

Below is relative humidity at 9:15 PM. Too dry for snow.

This graphic below from NWS Seattle shows that no snow is expected over the lowlands through Wednesday morning.

Why is no snow expected over the lowlands?

A low pressure system is sitting offshore right now, and it is drawing air through the gaps in the Cascades. This is the same system that is bringing extreme weather to California.

The graphic above shows where weaknesses in the Cascades are. With this storm, the strongest winds will be in the foothills and areas "downstream" of Enumclaw and North Bend.

A Wind Advisory is in effect for the Cascade foothills through 12 AM Wednesday. You can view this alert below.

Winds gusting to 45 mph are possible in these areas. Lesser winds, gusting 20-30 mph, are possible in areas between South Hill and Everett.

What about snow? Will there be any?

The answer to that question is that it depends. Snow is most likely in the Hood Canal Area on the Kitsap Peninsula and along parts of the Washington Coast, due to those areas' relation to the low center.

Flurries of snow and a localized dusting are possible in the lowlands overnight into Wednesday, but that isn't likely. 

Expect chilly weather, with highs 40-47 degrees and lows 30-36 degrees, for the next week or so.

The next blog post will feature an analysis of the major storm in California as well as an update on our weather.