SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Seattle weather about to take a change toward ‘typical’
Jan 19, 2017, 6:15 AM | Updated: 6:55 am
Freezing rain closed I-90 over the pass after freezing rain made driving conditions difficult. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
After Seattle weather dished up weeks of a cold snap, warm rain struck quickly, flooding the region.
“You heard about the flood right? It’s water under the bridge,” University of Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show.
Related: Washington weather turns “Hawaii-like” with warm rain
Meteorologist jokes aside, the weather around the Northwest has been somewhat unusual over the past few weeks — first with extremely cold weather, and then the rush of warm rain.
But Seattle weather is about to get a bit tame over the coming week. Western Washington can expect showers here and there.
“It’s mostly going to be typical weather in a day or so,” he said. “Snow levels over the weekend will be at 2,000-3,000 feet.”
The “typical” weather will show up right as the American Meteorological Society is in Seattle for its annual meeting. For Bond, that’s quite a bummer.
“We actually may have a dry period over next week,” Bond told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don. “Which is kind of a drag.”
“I’d like it if we had some lively, unpleasant weather for the meteorologists,” he said. “We’re a pretty rough and tumble bunch. Kind of like outlaw motorcyclists. We’re going to be hanging around the convention center, so be warned.”
Unusual Seattle weather
Ron and Don were mostly interested in the more extreme Seattle weather over recent weeks, such as cold snaps. Not to mention the heavy snow and avalanche hazards in the mountains. Then there’s freezing rain in other parts of the Northwest.
“It’s been a real whipsaw,” Bond said. “The extended cold snap – it’s been a long time since we’ve had anything like that. We did have this very strong flow of air from the southwest, warm and moist, that swept all that away – at least in Western Washington.”
In Central Washington and over mountain passes, however, there were reports of freezing rain over the past few days. I-90 was closed in both directions after ice coated the roadway. The ice increased the likelihood of avalanches and falling trees and branches.
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