How cold was Mount Rainier Wednesday? South Pole cold
Nov 30, 2016, 10:43 AM | Updated: Dec 1, 2016, 7:07 am
The National Weather Service reports Camp Muir at Mount Rainier was as cold as the South Pole. (National Park Service)
(National Park Service)
If you were cold when you woke up Wednesday morning, just be thankful you didn’t spend the night on Mount Rainier.
The National Weather Service reports it was 8 degrees Fahrenheit at Camp Muir at 5 a.m. Combined with wind gusts of 60 mph and wind chills of -20 Fahrenheit, it was as cold as the South Pole.
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was reporting temperatures of -25 Fahrenheit at 5:35 p.m. (UTC). A webcam shows what that kind of cold looks like.
Related: SDOT, King County preparing for icy winter weather
Camp Muir on Mount Rainier is situated at just higher than 10,000 feet, so no need to worry about waking up to those bone-chilling temps in the lowlands of Western Washington anytime soon. The lowest temperature Seattle has experienced in the past decade was in 2007, when temps dropped to 19 degrees, according to weather records.
Snow hits Stevens Pass
Elsewhere in Washington, multiple mountain passes reported snow Wednesday morning. The amount of snow was apparent by the number of spinouts and cautionary tweets from officials.
A friendly reminder to be prepared for winter driving across mountain passes. This was the scene on Stevens earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/8kwRjEFplH
— WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) November 30, 2016
The National Weather Service predicted an accumulation of 3 to 5 inches of snow at Stevens Pass throughout the day. Snoqualmie Pass could receive as much as 4 inches.
As snow in the mountains continues to fall, reports of temperatures dropping in the lowlands next week have people bracing for Armageddon. The Weather Service says snow levels could drop to 1,000 feet or lower early next week. However, the chances of lowland snow are relatively low or nonexistent.
“The cold air coming behind the front (on Sunday) does not appear to be part of a major cold-air outbreak and should only put our temps bordering on the level for snow,” Meteorologist Morgan Palmer said.
But the National Weather Service says a chance remains.
“Forecast confidence regarding potential for lowland snow remains low at this time, there is nonetheless a chance,” the Weather Service stated.
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