Winter storm blowing into Puget Sound area
Feb 22, 2013, 9:39 AM | Updated: 10:04 am
A storm blowing into the Northwest is expected to bring winds up to 40 mph along with a great deal of snow in the mountains, and the potential for some snow showers in the lowlands. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
A storm blowing into the Northwest is expected to bring winds up to 40 mph along with a great deal of snow in the mountains, and the potential for some snow showers in the lowlands.
The National Weather Service says the storm blowing in Friday will peak in the afternoon with 20 mph to 30 mph winds and gusts to 40 mph.
Forecasters expect 1 to 2 inches of rain in Western Washington and 1 to 2 feet of snow in the Cascades by Saturday morning.
“A lot of snow is headed for the mountains,” KING 5’s Rich Marriott tells Seattle’s Morning News. “We’re looking for a couple feet of new snow by [Saturday] morning in the ski areas.”
Marriott says a chance of lowland snow is also in the forecast.
“In the lowlands we’ll see those snow levels overnight [Friday] into early [Saturday] morning dropping down to 1,000 to 1,500 feet,” says Marriott. “Some of the people who live in the higher hills out there at 1,000 to 1,500 feet might see a little bit of wet snow.”
He says snow may appear at levels even lower than that, but lower accumulations won’t last.
“You might see some light, slushy snow briefly, but then as soon as the shower ends, temperatures warm up and that snow melts away.”
Windy conditions and heavy mountain snow will extend across Eastern Washington and continue Saturday.
Forecasters say a series of wet Pacific systems will continue to roll through Washington most of next week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
