Dori’s hopes for King County snowfall renewed with meteorologist’s report
Jan 14, 2020, 4:38 PM
(Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest)
Dori Monson’s boyish excitement over the Puget Sound snowfall was a roller coaster over the past few days, with KIRO 7 TV meteorologist Morgan Palmer initially filling him with hope for several inches of snow this week, and KIRO 7 TV meteorologist Nick Allard dashing those hopes on Monday with predictions of upcoming rainfall.
But, the weather is always changing, and on Tuesday, Dori was once again given reason to look up at the sky with enthusiasm.
That is because a weather system coming in from the Pacific Ocean and moving east across Washington is now predicted to bring a band of snow Tuesday night.
“It’s mainly from about the Seattle area to Bremerton/Port Orchard, to about Shelton, and north,” Palmer explained.
The snowfall should begin between about 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. However, there will be a very stark line between white and green lawns on Wednesday morning.
“This band is going to create a snow gradient, where we have a really sharp drop-off in snow totals, where — a lot like the convergence zone — we can get 4, 5 inches in Shoreline and nothing in Seattle, or 3 to 4 inches in Seattle and over on the Eastside, and nothing in Kent,” he said. “It’s going to be that sort of situation, where you travel a few miles to the south and you’re running out of snow accumulations very quickly.”
Snohomish County and the Olympic Peninsula are expected to be hit hard.
“Everett, Arlington, Marysville — boy, you’ve got a really good chance of having a snow day tomorrow,” Palmer said.
The snowfall that does show up in King County will be heavy, and will finish up before the Wednesday morning commute.
“This storm is across the border, headed north into B.C., past customs and everything way before daybreak tomorrow morning,” Palmer joked.
Wednesday will see warmer air and less snow.
Dori, hoping for 2 feet of snow, asked if technology had reached the point where humans could control the weather. Palmer responded that his best bet would be to raise Seattle 2,000 feet to be on par with towns in the mountains, an idea that very much appealed to Dori.
“If we were to put in pillars and raise Seattle 2,000 feet, we wouldn’t have to deal with that stupid Seattle Convention Center clogging traffic both directions on I-5,” he said. “We could redesign it to be a traffic utopia.”
In the meantime, Dori pledged to go sledding Tuesday evening if the snow does indeed fall here.
Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.