Snow beginning to show up in Seattle forecast for January
Jan 3, 2020, 12:54 PM | Updated: 12:55 pm
Snow in Seattle could be on the horizon in January. (MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
That little snowflake in your phone’s weather app isn’t an illusion — snow showers are appearing in some forecasts starting on Sunday, Jan. 12.
Seattle winter could be much snowier than usual
“If you’re hoping for snow this month, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed,” said Seattle Weather Blog’s Justin Shaw.
The long range forecast using the U.S. weather model predicts snow showers and freezing temperatures at the tail end of its 10-day forecast, extending all the way out to Friday, Jan. 17. The European model — thought by some to be the more accurate weather predictor — doesn’t agree, but still calls for a pattern of cold weather in the days ahead.
So, who do we believe? Given how difficult it can be to accurately predict lowland snowfall this far in advance, the short answer is a hard “maybe.”
“Yes, (snow) is possible,” Shaw Tweeted out on Friday. “Still a long ways between now and then, but the potential for exciting weather is increasing.”
❄️LONG-RANGE UPDATE ❄️
🔷U.S. weather model predicting gobs of snow & extreme cold in 10 days
♦️European model is not—but still has cold pattern ahead
🔷Extreme cold/snow unlikely to verify, but …If you’re hoping for snow this month, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
— Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) January 2, 2020
This follows predictions from Shaw dating as far back as November, when he said that he expected between 10 and 12 inches of snow to fall in Seattle during the winter months, in addition to “a significant cold spell in December or January.”
That was backed up by a similar prediction from University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass last September, calling for “a very active winter ahead.”
Meanwhile, snow continues to dump in the Cascades, with the National Weather Service issuing a Winter Weather Advisory above 2,000 feet elevation from 10 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Saturday. Heavy accumulations of mountain snow are expected to fall during that period.
