(Seasonally garbed gargoyle on 36th SW – photo sent by Paul Winters)
All eyes are on the forecast, wondering if we really might see serious snow by Valentine’s Day. Mid-afternoon always brings a new round of forecasts, and here’s what they are predicting now. The National Weather Service, in its latest “forecast discussion,” says:
Models are starting to converge on the next weather system slated to arrive on Thursday with a surface low potentially making landfall near the mouth of the Columbia late Thursday night. This is the “sweet spot” for a surface low to move onshore in terms ofsnow. With plenty of cold air in place and low dewpoints initially, significant accumulating snowfall looks like a good bet…especially for areas south and west of Seattle. Between midday Thursday and midday Friday, 3 to 8 inches of snow look likely from Pierce County southward and over by Hood Canal with lighter amounts elsewhere.
There may be something of “lull” in snowfall Friday afternoon before another system arrives late Friday night and Saturday. And this one could be quite significant with snowfall.
One of our area’s best-known independent weather analysts, Cliff Mass, is a little less restrained. Among other points, his newest update says one model suggests Seattle COULD see a foot and a half of snow by late Monday. But he too stresses that the outlook could change. So don’t go panic-buy just yet. Do refresh your memory on dealing with weather-related problems – SDOT has transportation-related info, and City Light has outage advice, for starters. And commenter Suzanne has advice about preparing your plants.
| 16 COMMENTS