Snow update: Today’s showers expected to transform to a major weather event Friday
UPDATE: Latest forecast for Friday’s snow event
Friday night will belong to the snow.
While 1-3 inches of snow was forecast in some areas by the end of Thursday, the big wallop was set to drop Friday night, forecasters say.
“Tomorrow is another story,” Dustin Guy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Thursday. “Tacoma could possibly be in the six to eight (inches) range.”
Guy said forecasting snow totals is always challenging in Western Washington and this system is especially difficult due to winds coming in from the east that will dry out moisture coming in from the west. Those winds will lessen on Friday, increasing the potential for snow then, Guy said.
The agency issued a Winter Storm Warning for the region extending from Hood Canal south to Tacoma, Olympia and into Oregon.
Cold air moving in from Canada will be steadily driving temperatures down with a low of 24 degrees Saturday morning. Wind chill will bring dangerous conditions to those living outside or with inadequate heating.
Winds in Tacoma were forecast to reach 20 miles per hour Thursday and up to 10 miles per hour on Friday. Coastal areas could see gusts up to 45 miles per hour Thursday-Saturday.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 1:08 PM.
