Very Cold Night & the Next Uncertain Snow Event

No FastCast tonight…continue reading below for more information about the cold temperatures overnight Thursday to Friday morning and the next potential snow event from Friday evening to Saturday morning.

——————————————————

It was a cold day across the region on Thursday, with highs only reaching the low to mid 30s. Most areas from Seattle south picked up 0.5-3 inches of snow, except 4-9” in the Cascade foothills including Bonney Lake, Buckley, and Enumclaw. 

A very cold night is ahead for the entirety of Washington State, as we will see below. Let’s take a look at the European model forecast for low temperatures on Friday morning.

Expect lows in the lowlands to be in the low to mid 20s, except in the upper teens in outlying areas and from Everett northward. Eastern Washington and the Cascades will be incredibly cold, with lows in the single digits to low 20s, with some parts of Northern Washington dropping into the -10 to 0º range.

All remaining slush, snow, and wet roads will likely be frozen on Friday morning, and there is a potential for freezing fog in the South Sound, so be prepared.

Temperatures on Friday will be slightly warmer than Thursday, likely reaching the mid 30s to near 40. 

By Friday evening, another storm will be offshore and will be pushing some precipitation into the area. This will be a tough storm to forecast as temperatures will be marginal and the placement of the storm is not ideal for lowland snow. 

Let’s take a look at the European model forecast, which has consistently been the most accurate with these snow events so far. This is showing total snow through Saturday.

The European model shows that the most likely area for snow will be the Kitsap Peninsula and Hood Canal Area, with 2-8 inches. The European model shows that the lowlands will receive 0.5-1.5 inches of new snow. 

However, the next forecast, from the NAM model, shows a trend among some of the high-resolution models to keep snow out of the Puget Sound area altogether. That forecast (through Saturday) is below.

The NAM and some other high-resolution forecasts show 3-8 inches on the West & North Kitsap Peninsula and around Hood Canal, with a chance of a dusting elsewhere. One exception to this is areas from Bellingham north, where forecasts show 0.5-5”, most north of Bellingham into parts of the Vancouver BC metro area.

Overall, it will be very cold from Thursday night into Friday morning, with another very uncertain snow forecast from Friday night to Saturday morning. Stay tuned on my Twitter page (link at top right of blog site) where I frequently update with the latest from local meteorologists. Stay warm!