Monday may be last chance for Western Washington snow

Monday may be the last chance for snow in Western Washington.

The National Weather Service forecast for Tacoma shows a chance of snow showers through Monday morning, followed by a week full of rain or showers, with colder-than-normal temperatures all week.

That snow isn’t likely to stick around long, with high temperatures forecast to be in the low to mid-40s and lows just above freezing. That weather pattern should hold, with temperatures gradually increasing to highs in the high 40s and lows in the high 30s by midweek.

University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass wrote Sunday that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hasn’t hit its normal high temperature in two weeks because an atmospheric trough has pushed the jet stream over Southern California.

Because of the trough, snow levels are down to about 700 feet in Western Washington, Mass wrote.

Historically, the chance of large accumulations of lowland snow in Western Washington ends in early March, he wrote — everything falling later is just a dusting.

Because of the warmth of the ground by the end of winters in the region, any snow that falls isn’t likely to stick around for long.

This story was originally published March 5, 2017 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Monday may be last chance for Western Washington snow."