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Monday, December 15, 2008

Arctic blast in Western Washington could last through Christmas

Think the weather's bound to get warmer after the very cold weekend we just had? Think again. The National Weather Service predicts we're in for a long cold spell, and what's worse, there are a series of storms on the horizon.

The first one begins tomorrow night.
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
3:28 PM PST MON DEC 15 2008

...WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOR ALL OF WESTERN WASHINGTON...A WINTER STORM WILL ARRIVE FROM CANADA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. SNOW WILL FALL ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON. NOT ALL AREAS MAY SEE HEAVY SNOW...FOUR INCHES OR MORE...BUT AT THIS TIME THE DETAILS ARE UNCERTAIN. FOR NOW A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL PARTS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON...WHICH MEANS HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE BUT NOT CERTAIN.
Because the highs are well below freezing, any precipation that falls will be snow. Roads and highways that do not already have ice on them are dry, so snow will accumulate quickly when the flakes start coming down.

Bottom line: Wednesday looks to be a very snowy day.

If there's important business you need to take care of, do it today or tomorrow. Don't wait, because local roads may not be navigable later this week.

And what happens after Wednesday? Don't expect conditions to get any better. In fact, expect more storms. KOMO's Scott Sistek explains:
Forecast models then show another very strong arctic blast following in that storm's footsteps for Thursday and Friday -- at least on par, but possibly even colder than what we're seeing now. In that case, we'll see highs in the teens/low 20s, and lows in single digits.

Then, forecasting models show another significant storm coming in for this weekend. Although timing differs in the models between late Friday or Sunday for arrival, if this one goes as forecast, we could see major snows here. There is some "hope" in that one model has it as of now going farther south into Oregon, which would limit the moisture for the northern half of Washington.
As for Christmas, we could very well be seeing snowfall then - and the below freezing temperatures may not disappear until 2009 arrives.

Now is a good time to stock up on food, extra batteries, and finish that Christmas shopping, if possible. The cold's not going away and more snow is coming.

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