“The snow machine will just keep cranking,” the weather service says, as the Cascades may get 2 to 3 feet of snow in the coming days. Meanwhile, Seattle has had the coldest three-month stretch since 1985.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Cascades, which could see 2 to 3 feet of snow Thursday night into Friday and even more snowfall over the weekend.
The Central Cascades likely will see 20 to 30 inches of snow while Paradise at Mount Rainier could see 3 feet, said Dustin Guy, a weather-service meteorologist. That’s on top of a snowpack that’s 100 percent of normal, he said.
The heavy snowfall is expected to continue through Sunday, making mountain-pass travel treacherous but providing great conditions for skiers. The intensity of snowfall is predicted to peak Friday afternoon or early evening, but the winter-storm warning will remain in effect until midnight.
Snoqualmie Pass is likely to see snow change to rain for a good bit of Friday, before changing back over to snow Friday evening. Another 1 to 3 inches of snow is possible at the pass on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, with snow and rain showers likely turning to heavy rain by Tuesday night, according to the weather service.
“The snow machine will just keep cranking,” Guy said.
[Seattle has had two uppercase Big Snows — the most recent in 1916]
There’s a slight chance the Puget Sound lowlands could see snow Sunday or Monday, with colder air moving in and temperatures dropping to the mid-30s overnight. The snow level could drop to 500 to 1,000 feet in the Seattle area, but is unlikely to accumulate, he said.
The three-month stretch from December through February was the coldest on record in Seattle since 1985, with 56 days with below-normal temperatures, according to the weather service.