MOUNTAIN WEATHER FORECAST

Time and Day:  0630 Monday

The Snapshot:  Moderate to heavy mixed rain and snow this morning with snow tonight.  Another similar event arrives tomorrow with heavy snow falling into Wednesday.  A high wind advisory will go into effect tonight.    

The Science

Current Observations: It is snaining heavily this morning, the temperature is 33f, the Rh = 100%, the barometer is 1005mb and steady, the winds are light and out of the ESE.

The advertised frontal system made landfall around 3 am and is expected to pass over the mountains in a few hours.  Once the front passes east of the crest, the freezing levels will fall a touch and the precipitation will taper off for a few hours.  

Strong westerly flow kicks in later this afternoon with the Puget Sound Convergence Zone providing another round of moderate to heavy precipitation and high winds through the night.  Freezing levels should fall to +-4000’ so this bunch of moisture should be mostly snow.    

Another wave of heavy precipitation arrives tomorrow afternoon.  This system will pack a punch with an inch or more of water possible.  If the freezing levels play nicely, there could be a foot or more of snow on the ground by Wednesday morning.  

The Long Range:   Intermittent moderate snow showers will continue through the end of the week.  Saturday is trending dry with a heavy rain event taking shape on Sunday and Monday.    

24hr Precipitation ending at 4am: Today 24hr water: .5-.75” snow:6-8 Tomorrow’s 24hr water: 1”  snow: 10-12” Trend and Timing: There will be short break in the precipitation this afternoon with snow ramping up tonight during the convergence period.

24hr temperature ending at 4am:  Low: 30     High: 34 Freezing level: +- 4500’ Trend and Timing:    Freezing levels will stick around 4500’ through the day and then drop to 4000’ after 4pm.

24hr Winds (mph) ending at 4am: Base:  0-5 ESE, 10-15 WSW Ridge Top: 5-10 SSE,  20-40 WSW Trend and Timing: Strong frontal winds are expected to fill in behind the front late this afternoon.   The winds taper around sunrise tomorrow morning.

jM