Seattle snow, how much will they get?
An Arctic front combined with a new storm coming off the coast will lead to lower elevations along the snowpack in the Pacific Northwest. FOX 13 Seattle meteorologist Ilona McCauley has the details.
Portland, Ore. – The first blast of Arctic air of the season will combine with an approaching Pacific storm to bring a wintry mix of heavy snow, freezing rain, gusty winds and dangerously cold winds to parts of the Pacific Northwest this week.
“The headline for us here in the Seattle metro locations is going to be extreme cold. So we've been tracking the outflow flow of the Fraser River, and we've already seen temperatures drop into the 20s in Bellingham, which is just barely across the Canadian border here,” said Ilona McCauley, meteorologist at FOX 13 in Seattle.
She continued: “And now we will talk about wind chill warnings there as temperatures appear to be below zero, similar to the temperatures east of the Cascades when they reach Spokane.” “Even worse, we're talking about -25 degrees Celsius wind chill value, folks.”
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A passing frontal boundary brought snow across some areas of Western Washington on Thursday, but only light accumulations are expected.
As cold air settles in Thursday evening with lows in the 20s, a storm will approach Oregon from the Pacific on Friday, bringing a batch of moisture poised to wreak havoc when it collides with subzero temperatures.
“As far as the potential for the amount of snow in the lowlands. The latest computer models and forecasts that we've been doing have now come into focus. It's going to be a little bit further south,” McCauley said. “And so as far as Olympia south to parts of Portland and Vancouver and so on. So here in Seattle, we're basically looking for just dust, which is kind of what we call conversation snow here.”
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The precipitation will start out as snow, but as the storm emerges from the relatively temperate Pacific Ocean, a layer of warm air will likely change the precipitation to freezing rain along the northern and central Oregon coast, spreading the threat inland to an area roughly between Eugene and Oregon. Salem.
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The Portland and Vancouver metro areas will likely remain covered in snow, threatening commutes Friday evening and continuing into Saturday morning.
Winter storm warnings and watches are now in effect covering a wintry mix across much of Oregon and southwest Washington, including the Portland area and the Willamette Valley. Freezing rain could lead to ice accumulations of up to a quarter inch along the Oregon coast and southern Willamette Valley where wind speeds reach 30-35 mph.
Total snowfall remains light to heavy due to remaining uncertainty in the storm's track and strength, but there is a possibility of 3-5 inches or more in the Portland area at the extreme end of the forecast.
Areas above mountain passes could see up to 4 feet of new snow while below the passes the maximum will reach 2 feet, according to NWS Portland.
Meanwhile, strong winds are expected near and along the Cascades gaps, where high pressure in the Arctic will push icy winds toward Highway 5. Along the Columbia Strait, easterly winds could reach 50-60 mph with gusts Higher, creating potential blizzard conditions during snowy periods. In Northwest Washington, while it will be dry, strong northeasterly winds blowing out of the Fraser River Valley will bring wind chills to -15 degrees around Bellingham.
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Wind chills drop to dangerous levels in Spokane and the East Cascades
Meanwhile, east of the Cascades, temperatures will drop further as the Arctic air mass stabilizes. Wind chill hours cover parts of eastern Washington and Idaho, including the Spokane, Washington, area, where strong winds drop chills as low as -25. to -35 degrees Friday through the weekend with snow totals of 2-5 inches.
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Winter storm watches and warnings for eastern Oregon also cover periods of heavy snow and gusty winds of up to 45-50 mph.
