West Seattle Weather Watch: Snowing! And a new advisory

(SUNDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING NOTES: Since the weather is the big news, we are keeping this story atop the WSB home page. *But* we have published more, newer news too – scroll past this story to find those other stories while this remains at the top of the page. We’re updating this story too, until we start a new weather story around mid-evening – latest update: Metro will run SNOW ROUTING Monday morning.)

(Video added 2:10 pm, a few minutes after we shot it outside WSB HQ)
ORIGINAL 11:14 AM REPORT: Some flakes are falling in Upper Fauntleroy. That follows the 6 am-ish sighting in Sunrise Heights mentioned in our previous weather report, and a Twitter note reports light snow in Admiral about an hour ago. Seen any where you are? Meantime, the National Weather Service has changed its forecast again. Latest one (which is accompanied by a new “special weather statement”) says:

This Afternoon: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph becoming east northeast. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tonight: Snow showers likely, mainly after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. North northwest wind between 6 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Monday: Snow showers likely, mainly before 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 36. Windy, with a calm wind becoming north between 27 and 30 mph. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

As for online forecaster Cliff Massas of a few hours ago, he was forecasting a north/south split.

2 PM UPDATE: A somewhat serious snow flurry? shower? up here right now. Recording video. Meantime, the National Weather Service has upgraded its alert to a Winter Weather Advisory.

2:27 PM UPDATE: The video we added atop the story is from our HQ, about 340 feet up, but it’s snowing close to sea level too – Lola shared this video from Fauntleroy/Findlay in Fairmount Springs:

Your photos, video, and info VERY MUCH welcome, as this goes on – not just “isn’t it pretty” but also, if it starts to affect roads (etc.), there’s huge value in showing what’s happening where you are – here’s all the ways to get it to WSB – thanks!

2:44 PM UPDATE: Just in from SDOT:

Temperatures are expected to drop later today on Seattle streets. Crews will begin late this afternoon applying anti-icing material on hills, curves and known icy spots. They will continue with anti-icing operations through the evening and night while continuing to carefully monitor the temperature and condition of the pavement. If any snow starts to accumulate Monday morning, the crews will begin to plow snow routes.

Still not sticking so far as we can tell. No sign of that in the cameras on the WSB Traffic page, either. (Remember that there are more cameras on that page than last time we saw snow, since the city has added “live” cameras in The Junction and Fauntleroy, among other places.)

3:21 PM UPDATE: Via Twitter, Rhonda from The Mortgage Porter (WSB sponsor) points out that the newest forecast says we might see wind gusts tomorrow as high as 47 miles per hour.

4 PM UPDATE: WSDOT is out with its “we’re ready” news release. Haven’t found it linked on their website yet and it’s a little long to run the whole thing here, so we’ve put it on a page here. Meantime, Danny Gawlowski of the Seattle Times (WSB partner) has compiled some scenes from around The Junction:

The artist you see, briefly, in Danny’s video is Linus Von Moos, painting outside Twilight Artist Collective – we’ve just published a separate story about what he’s doing. (Remember that for now, we’re keeping this atop the home page, but there are newer stories below it; when we’re ready to “unstick” this story later, it’ll fall back down into its chronological place.)

5:21 PM UPDATE: Just in from Metro’s Linda Thielke:

Due to the potential for snow during the morning commute, King County Metro Transit will start service on Monday with buses in all areas on snow routing. Metro has been monitoring the weather over the weekend and preparing for the possibility of snow. The Monday forecast from the National Weather Service indicates that cold temperatures and more moisture could cause snowfall in King County starting in the morning and lasting throughout the day. Check Metro Online at www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow before traveling on Monday.

39 Replies to "West Seattle Weather Watch: Snowing! And a new advisory"

  • LyndaB November 21, 2010 (11:15 am)

    35th and Juneau. I saw some flakes. Just a few.

  • Elevated Concern November 21, 2010 (11:31 am)

    Flakes in the Triangle.

  • Pop November 21, 2010 (11:38 am)

    Snow! Snow! :)

  • squareeyes November 21, 2010 (11:40 am)

    Seaview – Light flurries as I was doing my [presumably] last lawn-mowing of the year. Pretty weird.

  • jms November 21, 2010 (11:47 am)

    Light flurries @ California & Portland

  • Kristina November 21, 2010 (11:51 am)

    Dare I hope? Just enough to build a little snowman and do some snow angels…that’s all I need. Those little flakes stopped almost as soon as they started here, but I keep hoping…

  • Erik Walum November 21, 2010 (11:54 am)

    Really Light snow falling in NORthADmiral

  • Alki Resident November 21, 2010 (11:55 am)

    I saw some flakes near Gatewood but that was just my brother and his family.

  • westseattledood November 21, 2010 (12:00 pm)

    Teeny tiny flakes in Highland Park have stopped.
    So, no more procrastination on bringing in the soaker hoses and table umbrella!

  • Wyndow November 21, 2010 (12:04 pm)

    Snowing in roxhill. :-)

  • Patrick Cosman November 21, 2010 (12:06 pm)

    Just started to snow here at Cafe Rozella its great!!!!!

    :)
    :)
    :)

  • toddinwestwood November 21, 2010 (12:07 pm)

    SNOW!!!!!!!!!!

    Make a run to the store for pizza and beer. they will be the new currency after snowpocalypse 2010!

  • Kevin November 21, 2010 (12:23 pm)

    Light flurries seen in Arbor Heights around 11:45 but have since stopped… for the moment.

  • JanS November 21, 2010 (12:27 pm)

    funny how we are like little kids when this happens, huh

    :)

  • ad November 21, 2010 (12:42 pm)

    I know our region is difficult to forecast, but gee, I’m getting frustrated by the ever-changing forecast!

    I think I’m going to stop reading them. I already know it’s going to be very, very cold..and potentially icy. If it snows, it snows. I’m ready. :)

  • herongrrrl November 21, 2010 (1:05 pm)

    We had a little flurry on Beach Drive…I will admit I’m hoping for more!

    Good explanation of why it’s so dang hard to forecast the weather here: http://straitofmagellan.blogspot.com/2010/11/butterfly-effect.html

  • Meg November 21, 2010 (1:57 pm)

    Steady (albeit very light) here in the Junction!

  • Steph November 21, 2010 (2:02 pm)

    Upon watching the snow falling, my 5-year-old yelled, “It’s Christmas!!!!”

  • Kevin November 21, 2010 (2:18 pm)

    Light flakes have resumed in Arbor Heights.

  • datamuse November 21, 2010 (2:23 pm)

    Light but steady in Highland Park. Not really sticking yet tho.

  • manda kel & lulu November 21, 2010 (2:34 pm)

    light snow falling in high point… beautiful but cold!

  • Jo November 21, 2010 (2:36 pm)

    Teensy, tiny flakes here at Alki.
    Yeahhhh!!

  • Noelle November 21, 2010 (2:39 pm)

    LOVE THE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • coffee November 21, 2010 (2:41 pm)

    Fine stuff coming down over here by the Skylark. YEAAAAAAAAAAA

  • k November 21, 2010 (2:57 pm)

    More snow falling in HP!! Earlier we had big flakes, then small tight ones for a good hour. Now back to the big ones.

  • Jill Russell November 21, 2010 (3:07 pm)

    Starting to really come down now on Gatewood Hill. Sticking to the roof and fence.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Woz2ulzNSBM

  • AG November 21, 2010 (3:07 pm)

    Sticking now in Highland Park. Just a dusting so far.

  • Amanda November 21, 2010 (3:15 pm)

    Starting to stick in Westwood ;)

  • Restita November 21, 2010 (3:19 pm)

    Wow, its STILL snowing….and brrr cold!

  • dude November 21, 2010 (3:29 pm)

    Sticking and blowing hard in 98146!

  • S November 21, 2010 (3:29 pm)

    Snow at 35th and Morgan for over an hour now… flake size keeps changing.. was small fluffy flakes a few moments ago, now its back to powdery micro sized flakes… Its sure is cold out..

  • Christina November 21, 2010 (4:03 pm)

    We’ve got snow sticking to our lawn at the moment but not yet sticking to the roads. We’re down in Shorewood, near White Center.

  • Alki Mama November 21, 2010 (4:05 pm)

    Steph- my 8-year old said, “it’s going to be a white Christmas after all!” as she popped the movie into the DVD player!

  • PeterT November 21, 2010 (4:26 pm)

    Snowing at 3:30 PM down on Beach Drive between Atlas and Shore Pl. Not sticking. Nice to see, though…

  • GenHillOne November 21, 2010 (5:19 pm)

    Costco is fun on the weekends anyway, but when snow is actually falling from the sky? A real joy and a half!

  • homesweethome November 21, 2010 (6:53 pm)

    Seriously Metro? Really? I understand we don’t want to have buses stranded but this seems overkill – calling snow routes at 5pm with nothing on the ground?

  • WS Mom November 21, 2010 (7:17 pm)

    I think they’re calling snow routes more for icy road conditions than snow on the road.

  • mightymo November 21, 2010 (7:19 pm)

    Glad I was already going to stay home today. I feel sorry for the Metro riders who wake up in the morning with nothing on the ground and miss their bus because it was rerouted.

  • JayDee November 21, 2010 (8:29 pm)

    I’d hate for King County (nee Metro) to decide anything on a knee-jerk basis without snow fall sticking to the roads or dry (but cold) winds blowing from the north.

Sorry, comment time is over.