Snow Showers Possible Overnight Monday Into Tuesday

 FastCast—Monday, Jan. 3 to Tuesday, Jan. 4:

It has been an active start to 2022, which will continue in the coming days. As of 7:20 PM Monday, temperatures across the Puget Sound area have fallen to 30-34 degrees. With showers moving in, precipitation will likely fall as snow or brief rain/snow mix. Generally, expect accumulation of a trace to half inch. The Cascade Foothills and Hood Canal Area will receive up to 1-3 inches due to their higher elevation and exposure to easterly winds. Additionally, remaining snow and slush on area roads (mainly side streets in the metro area) will likely freeze overnight, with low temperatures near freezing. This is especially likely in the foothills and along Hood Canal, where road conditions remain hazardous. Be careful driving Monday night and Tuesday morning. Expect temperatures to warm into the mid 30s to low 40s on Tuesday, with rain showers likely at times. A more impactful system, with heavy rain, potential lowland snow in places, and heavy mountain snow is expected from late Wednesday to early Friday.

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Localized showers have been moving through Western Washington today, bringing rain, mix, or snow. This will be the theme overnight Monday to Tuesday morning, with showers changing to all rain by midday Tuesday. With temperatures generally in the 30-34° range Monday evening, most precipitation around Puget Sound will fall as snow. 

Showers today have shown that snow can fall (sometimes mixed with rain) with temperatures as warm as 36 degrees, likely lowering temperatures in the process. A particularly impactful snow shower moved through parts of Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Buckley, and Enumclaw Monday evening. Below is a photo from Bonney Lake Weather showing accumulating snow on roads during the heavy snow shower.

This heavy snow shower caused some difficult road conditions and limited visibility as it moved through SE King County and East Pierce County this evening.

More localized snow showers are expected overnight Monday into Tuesday morning. Below is the UW WRF model showing snowfall (not necessarily what accumulates) through Tuesday.

This model generally did pretty good with predicting Sunday night’s areas of snow. Notice light accumulations of a trace to 1 inch in parts of the lowlands and 1 to 4 inches in parts of the Cascade Foothills and Hood Canal Area through Tuesday.

Additionally, the mountains will continue to get hammered with snow and blowing snow. At one point on Monday morning, Snoqualmie, Stevens, and White Passes were all closed simultaneously. 

As of 9 PM Monday, Snoqualmie Pass has opened after an 18 hour closure, Stevens Pass is open, and White Pass remains closed due to snow slides and “extreme” weather conditions. Below is Denny Creek (west of Snoqualmie summit) at 9:15 PM Monday. Chains are required except 4WD/AWD on Snoqualmie, Stevens, and Blewett Passes as of Monday evening.

You’ll find snowy conditions on I-90 from Issaquah onward in most places across the state. The passes will receive an additional 2 to 4 feet  of snow by the end of the week. (A power outage has been impacting the Snoqualmie Summit areas all day Monday and is ongoing at the time of writing this blog). 

Stay tuned as a more impactful system with heavy rain, potential lowland snow (in places), and heavy mountain snow will impact the region late Wednesday through Friday.