Next Snow Event Ahead & Very Cold Temperatures Continue

The next snow event for the Lowlands is ahead on Thursday, with 1-3 inches of snow over Western Washington, with some caveats.

But first, there is a slight chance of snow overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, mainly south of Tacoma. A trace to half inch of snow is possible in these areas. Low temperatures of 20-27 degrees are expected Wednesday morning, with teens in outlying areas and north of Everett. 

Mostly sunny skies are expected on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching the upper 20s to low 30s. Fraser winds (N-NE) of 30-40 mph, gusting up to 50 mph are expected in Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan Counties from late Tuesday to Wednesday evening. Wind chills in these areas will drop as low as -10°. Brisk winds with wind chills of 10-20° are possible in the Lowlands. (Euro model for wind chill at 10 AM Wednesday is below)

Very cold wind chills of -20° to 10° are expected in Eastern Washington as well.

Now for the next snow event…precipitation will move in from the west, creating a “snow shadow” in parts of the lowlands. The Euro model for snow through Thursday evening is below.

Expect 1-3 inches of new snow for the Lowlands. There will be a “snow shadow” extending from roughly Everett to Seattle and west toward the north Kitsap Peninsula. Expect less snow in these “snow-shadowed” areas.

Below is a helpful NWS Seattle graphic showing most possible, least possible, and most likely snowfall from their NBM model.

This generally confirms the likelihood of 1-3 inches of snow around the area.

There is a chance that temperatures will briefly rise above freezing on Thursday afternoon. This will bring the potential for brief rain/snow mix in the lowlands. There is a slight chance of freezing rain on Thursday in the areas outlined in the NWS Seattle graphic below.

As shown in the graphic, there is a 10-20% chance of this happening, so be prepared, but it is not incredibly likely.

After the snow on Thursday, another round of cold air is expected. Temperatures will drop to the upper teens to mid 20s by Friday morning, except in the low-mid teens from Everett northward. (Euro model temperatures at 7 AM Friday below).

Temperatures on Friday will not rise above freezing across most of the area, and will drop back to the upper teens to mid 20s for the night of New Year’s Eve. (10 PM New Year’s Eve temperatures below).

Roads will likely be messy (compact snow & ice, black ice, slush, frozen slush) through New Year’s Day. This will be exacerbated by the higher amount of traffic due to New Year’s celebrations.

However, with a new year comes change, and temperatures will warm into the upper 30s to low 40s by Saturday afternoon and will stay above freezing for at least a couple days. Roads will likely have a lot of water on them due to melting snow & slush in addition to rain.

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