Rare snow showers blanket Northwest mountain peaks
Jun 14, 2016, 8:11 AM | Updated: 10:48 am
The western United States set records for low winter snowpack levels in 2015. (National Park Service)
(National Park Service)
No, you’re not seeing things. There really is fresh snow on some mountains.
National Weather Service meteorologist Dana Felton says the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges could get as much as six inches of snow by early Wednesday.
“It’s unusual to get this amount,” Felton said.
Check the current weather conditions for Western Washington
Paradise at Mount Rainier, for example, has received half a foot of snow or more on 15 separate days over the last 100 years, according to Felton. It’s possible Paradise, at an elevation of about 5,400 feet, could see that kind of snow by the end of Tuesday.
By Tuesday morning, Paradise already had a fresh blanket of snow. Ditto for Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory through 6 p.m. Tuesday for the Cascades. The Weather Service was expecting up to 8 inches at elevations above 5,000 feet.
The cool weather is a drastic change from about a week ago, when the National Weather Service was reporting record highs around Western Washington, including Olympia (94 degrees), Bellingham (85 degrees), and Seatac (93 degrees) on June 5.
The snow won’t last long. The region begins to warm up Wednesday and continues to do so through the weekend and into next week, according to recent forecasts. Puget Sound area residents will see highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid-40s through Wednesday.
Temperatures should reach the low-70s by the weekend.
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