Don’t let the daffodils fool you. Cold followed by wet coming our way
The buds on trees and spring flowers around the South Sound look as if they’ll burst soon. But any earlier bloomers are going to get a cold, wet slap in the face this week and next.
Cold, dry air from Canada will plunge temperatures well below freezing on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
The Thursday morning low in Tacoma will be 27, and Olympia will bottom out at 25.
Washington’s banana belt, its Pacific coast, will stay just above freezing. Westport will see a low of 35 degrees. Higher up and further east, Stevens and Snoqualmie passes will dip into the mid-teens.
Then, it gets wet again.
Rain will soak the lowlands and snow will fall in the mountains this weekend. Tacoma can expect between three- and six-tenths of an inch rain Saturday, according to NWS meteorologist Mary Butwin. A little less will fall on Sunday.
It’s a prelude to next week when the phenomenon formerly known as a Pineapple Express and now called an Atmospheric River will once again hit the region.
“This one is certainly coming from the tropics,” Butwin said. At roughly a week out, it’s still hard to say where the river will take aim, she said.
“It’s an uncertain track,” Butwin said. “We rely heavily on models at this point.”
More precipitation on Tuesday (March 15) might increase the chances for river flooding and landslides, the Weather Service said. Flooding could last into Wednesday (March 16).
Atmospheric rivers have been the theme of this La Nina winter in the Pacific Northwest. While La Nina generally means ocean cooling leading to a wetter and cooler winter, it doesn’t predict where that moisture is coming from.
In early January, flooding from another atmospheric river event shut down portions of Interstate 5 in Thurston and Lewis counties and heavy rains caused landslides across the region.
A winter of the so-called rivers have acted like fire hoses, inundating some areas while leaving others dry.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
