West Seattle Weather Watch: Very cold? Yes. Snow? Hmm …

(AFTERNOON UPDATE: A “special weather statement” now covers our area – scroll down)

Thanks to JayDee for sharing that Alki overview, photographed this morning – he calls attention to “the white caps and white stratus blowing from the north. The stratus has that reversed-incline that is the opposite of the surface wind direction — winds aloft are still from the south, which stretches the clouds northward.” Bottom line, he notes, it’s clear “the outflow from the Fraser is coming.” That’s the cold air from Canada that forecasters have been warning us about. Still no special warnings/alerts for our area, and the National Weather Service‘s latest map shows even the ones for other parts of Western Washington have largely been canceled. But popular online forecaster Cliff Mass wrote late last night about “uncertainty” – the cold seems certain, chances of snow, not so much. And the current NWS forecast for the city says it could dip into the upper 20s tonight. So focus on the freeze, make sure your pipes are ready, etc. (here’s lots of advice from Take Winter By Storm). We’ll be here 24/7 as always, to report/share weather, road, bus, school information as needed. 4:32 PM UPDATE: From David Rosen of SlickPix Photography, waves crashing over the Alki Beach seawall this afternoon:

The NWS now has a “special weather statement” covering the area – including the chance of snow – though it’s projecting that it’s not likely north of Tacoma; here’s the latest.

7 Replies to "West Seattle Weather Watch: Very cold? Yes. Snow? Hmm ..."

  • Alkira November 20, 2010 (11:23 am)

    If anyone has a way of gauging the MPH of the wind out here on Alki Beach… I would love to know what it is. A very windy day out here for us!

    • WSB November 20, 2010 (11:32 am)

      I use a very low-tech hourly reading from the National Weather Service’s official station at Alki Point, which says it gusted to 29 mph at 11 am straight up … check for K91S here at the top of each hour
      http://www.atmos.washington.edu/data/nw.cgi?what=0

  • Alkira November 20, 2010 (11:55 am)

    So great! Thank you!!

  • sam November 20, 2010 (1:06 pm)

    it was windy at the dog park brrrr
    heard Cliff Mass say (on KUOW) that Tuesday would be the coldest of the year so far.

  • Babs November 20, 2010 (1:19 pm)

    I just had a tall but small tree in a large heavy pot tumble on my deck from wind, in over 3 years its never tumbled and I live up high. Its been through many many storms and stood firm. The wind is strong and seems to be coming in a diff direction then normal. Hummmmm what is in store later I wonder…

  • coffee November 20, 2010 (4:40 pm)

    LOVING this weather!!!! And snow, oh christmas will be early for me if we get snow! And that is a cool site, thanks.

  • Cheryl November 20, 2010 (6:00 pm)

    Come on snow!

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