Winter makes early arrival with snow, chilly temps and a windy night in Tacoma, Olympia
The leaves are still orange and red in Puget Sound but if you take a trip to the mountains this weekend you’re likely to see just white. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Cascades from Sunday through Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Down in the lowlands, it’ll just feel like winter with lows in the mid to upper 30s Sunday into Tuesday morning. Highs will be around 50 or the upper 40s.
Snow levels will start at 5,000 feet Saturday and then drop to 2,000 feet on Sunday. Mountain passes might get a foot of snow on Sunday, NWS meteorologist Matthew Cullen said.
“Expect to see some snow when you’re traveling over the Cascades,” he said.
Precipitation
In the lowlands, enough rain will fall to potentially send the Skokomish River ijn Mason County over its banks, the NWS said. Combined with the first king tides of the season, coastal areas could see some flooding as well.
From Saturday night through Sunday, 1/2-inch of rain will fall in the Tacoma area, mostly Sunday morning, Cullen said. “The Tacoma area will stay shadowed from the bulk of the rain,” he said.
Olympia will get slightly more rain, maybe 3/4-inch, he said. The Cascades and Pacific coast will see significantly more precipitation.
Winds will accompany the moisture, the NWS advised. The strongest were expected to hit Saturday into Sunday morning, Cullen said, with peak winds of 25-30 miles per hour.
Western Washington and Oregon are exceptions to the current drought sweeping most of the nation, according to Cullen and the U.S. Drought Monitor.
This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 10:28 AM.
