As the temperature drops on Capitol Hill and a mix of snow flurries and freezing rain falls, Sunday morning's special weather statement from the National Weather Service hasn't backed off its predictions of continued spotty snow showers in our area -- and the chance for a 2011 Snowmageddon starting Tuesday night:
..SNOW POTENTIAL TODAY AND IN THE WEEK TO COME...
A PERSISTENT CONVERGENCE ZONE ACROSS SOUTHERN WHIDBEY ISLAND INTO
NORTHERN SNOHOMISH COUNTY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS.
ANOTHER INCH OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE WITH THE CONVERGENCE ZONE. A
SMALL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SHOWERS ROTATING AROUND THE LOW WILL MOVE
INTO THE NORTHERN SLOPES OF THE OLYMPICS TODAY WITH THE
POSSIBILITY OF 2 INCHES OF NEW SNOW ALONG THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE
FUCA. UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW IS ALSO POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHWEST
INTERIOR WITH THIS FEATURE TODAY. OUTSIDE OF THESE AREAS SNOW
SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE ISOLATED WITH LITTLE IF ANY ACCUMULATIONS.
A DRYING TREND WILL BEGIN TONIGHT. MONDAY AND TUESDAY WILL BE
COLD AND DRY.
STARTING TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE END OF NEXT WEEK...THERE IS
THE POTENTIAL FOR A WIDESPREAD HEAVY SNOW EVENT SOMEWHERE IN
WESTERN WASHINGTON. GREAT UNCERTAINTY INHERENTLY EXISTS IN A
FORECAST WITH THIS MUCH LEAD TIME...AND IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A
HEAVY SNOW SITUATION WILL NOT DEVELOP. FORECASTS SHOULD BE
MONITORED CLOSELY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A SNOW
EVENT IS IN THE OFFING...THEN THE DRY WEATHER ON MONDAY AND
TUESDAY WILL AFFORD AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO PREPARE.
Meanwhile, Cliff Mass is predicting a fading likelihood that this "widespread" event will hit Seattle.
10:08PM - Sunday afternoon update from NWS - Sunday's late update? "Appears" we'll get some snow Tuesday night -- but how much?
...LOWLAND SNOW POSSIBLE BEGINNING TUESDAY NIGHT...
RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS THIS EVENING WILL DISSIPATE OVERNIGHT AS A
COOL AND DRY AIR MASS FILTERS INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON FROM THE
NORTH. MOSTLY CLEAR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
WITH HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 30S AND LOWS IN THE 20S.
MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH A PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO
SPREAD INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON TUESDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME...IT
APPEARS THE AIR MASS WILL INITIALLY BE COLD ENOUGH SO THAT
PRECIPITATION WILL FALL AS SNOW ACROSS THE LOWLANDS. THE TRACK OF
THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW WILL DETERMINE HOW MUCH SNOW FALLS
ACROSS THE AREA BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO RAIN BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
CURRENT COMPUTER GUIDANCE SUGGESTS AT LEAST 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW
COULD FALL...BUT MUCH HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE IF THE SYSTEM
TAKES A MORE SOUTHERN TRACK. CONTINUE TO MONITOR FORECASTS CLOSELY
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS AS THIS STORM SYSTEM DEVELOPS.