And "refrigerator temperatures" have a lot of implications. First, the snow is only going to melt slowly, which should lessen the threat of urban (or other) flooding. Second, the snow levels are low, so if you are up on high hills or in the foothills, snow fall is not over. And third, such temperatures will keep meteorologists awake at night, worrying that the next weather system could drive the snow level to the surface.
For those interested in yesterday's snowfall totals, check at the end of the blog: in central Puget Sound it ran from roughly 2.5 to 10 inches. As suspected, the models underplayed the totals due to moving out the cool air too quickly.
The regional surface observations at 10 AM (below, click to expand) show low to mid 30s over much of the lowlands, with the exception of Northwest Washington, where cold air is still draining out of the Fraser River Valley (with gusts above 30 mph as well!). The northern San Juan Islands are getting a piece of the Fraser cold/wind.
The current freezing level (9 AM) in Seattle is around 1300 ft (see plot from the City of Seattle SNOWWATCH site) below. The snow level can be as much as 1000 ft below the freezing level. So if you are on a high hill, you could still be getting snow.
Cooler air will be moving in aloft tonight (but not the super-cold stuff we had a few days ago) and there will be considerable cloud cover that will keep the temperatures up. Lows near sea level should drops to 32-34F, so one should not expect a major icing event. And keep in mind that what makes things slippery is the liquid water on ice....so things are plenty slippery at temperatures in the mid to upper 30s.
There should be drying later tonight and Wednesday, but showers tonight and tomorrow morning will result in some snow over NW Washington and the mountains (see the 24h amounts ending 4 PM Wednesday).
Finally, an extraordinary aspect of yesterday's weather was all the power outages-- tens of thousands of homes were blacked out as tree branches snapped or leaned over power lines. Walking to the bus stop this morning, I saw two downed trees and a number of big branches broken off. Our trees have been well tested by strong winds this winter, but many could not deal with the weight of large amounts of wet snow, made even heavier by rain.
The power outage map this morning from Puget Sound Energy tells the story (see below). Seems to be worse in a relatively narrow band. North of the band, the precipitation stayed snow. South of the band, it turned to rain early. Finally, from the snow totals I have seen, amount were heavier in central Puget Sound and in the area around Olympics where there were also lots of outages
Looking at the cams around our region and experiencing all the closures, I will end with some questions--one that I will discuss in a future blog: don't we need more snow plows in our region? Did we have an unnecessary "partial shutdown" of our region, one that could have been avoided with more equipment? What is the cost of allowing so many business, educational institutions, and more to close for days on end? I bet you can guess what I am thinking.
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NOUS46 KSEW 121805
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WAZ001-503-504-506-507-509>517-555-556-558-559-567>569-130605-
Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Seattle WA
1005 AM PST Tue Feb 12 2019
..STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL REPORTS...
Location Amount Time/Date Provider
..Washington...
..Clallam County...
1 NW Hurricane Ridge 13.0 in 0800 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 SSW Port Angeles 12.8 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 SSW Port Angeles 10.0 in 0825 AM 02/12 Public
7 ESE Hurricane Ridge 10.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 E Neah Bay 9.0 in 0810 AM 02/12 Trained Spotter
5 ENE Hurricane Ridge 8.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Port Angeles 6.5 in 0507 PM 02/11 Public
Port Angeles 4.5 in 0423 PM 02/11 Public
1 WNW Dungeness 3.2 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Port Angeles 3.0 in 0308 PM 02/11 Public
Port Angeles 2.8 in 0354 PM 02/11 Public
3 E Neah Bay 2.0 in 0331 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
..Grays Harbor County...
Central Park 5.0 in 0130 PM 02/11 Public
3 SSW Montesano 5.0 in 0115 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
5 NNW Central Park 4.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Aberdeen 2.5 in 1212 PM 02/11 Public
..Island County...
1 NNW Oak Harbor 1.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
4 NW Langley 1.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..King County...
Snoqualmie Pass 53.0 in 0807 AM 02/12 Park/Forest Srvc
2 WNW Snoqualmie 24.0 in 0819 AM 02/12 Public
5 ENE Cedar Falls 14.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Stevens Pass 14.0 in 0500 AM 02/12 Park/Forest Srvc
3 N Carnation 13.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
4 SW Duvall 10.3 in 0921 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 NNE Sammamish 10.0 in 0833 AM 02/12 Public
4 WNW Carnation 9.0 in 0837 AM 02/12 Public
1 S Sahalee 9.0 in 0823 AM 02/12 Public
3 ESE Sahalee 8.0 in 0826 AM 02/12 Public
3 SE North Bend 8.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 E Redmond 7.5 in 0757 PM 02/11 Public
2 N Redmond 7.5 in 0925 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 ESE Woodinville 7.0 in 0928 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 SSW Woodinville 7.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
SeaTac Airport 6.1 in 0635 PM 02/11 Official NWS Obs
Carnation 6.0 in 0832 AM 02/12 Public
3 ENE Renton 6.0 in 0820 AM 02/12 Public
Queen Anne Seattle 6.0 in 0839 AM 02/12 Public
Bothell 5.0 in 0823 AM 02/12 Public
1 ENE Seattle 5.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Vashon Island 5.0 in 0411 PM 02/11 Public
Woodinville 4.8 in 0708 PM 02/11 Public
Eastgate 4.3 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 NNE Seattle 3.1 in 0724 PM 02/11 Public
1 W Bellevue 3.0 in 0451 PM 02/11 Public
Redmond 3.0 in 0407 PM 02/11 Public
1 N Seattle 3.0 in 0506 PM 02/11 Public
3 WSW Seattle 3.0 in 0530 PM 02/11 Public
4 SSW Sheridan Beach 3.0 in 0831 AM 02/12 Public
White Center 2.5 in 0344 PM 02/11 Public
3 NE White Center 2.3 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..Kitsap County...
4 SE Seabeck 16.0 in 0948 AM 02/12 Trained Spotter
Port Orchard 9.0 in 0604 PM 02/11 Public
2 S Seabeck 9.0 in 0636 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
2 WSW Poulsbo 7.5 in 0951 AM 02/12 Public
1 NNE Seabeck 6.5 in 0226 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
2 NE Bremerton 5.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
5 N Poulsbo 5.0 in 0600 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 NW Bainbridge Island 4.3 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 NNW Indianola 3.3 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..Lewis County...
3 NE Onalaska 3.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..Mason County...
4 WNW Hoodsport 15.9 in 0918 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 SSW Belfair 4.5 in 0156 PM 02/11 Public
2 N Skokomish 3.0 in 0104 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
..Pierce County...
Paradise 32.0 in 0600 AM 02/12 Park/Forest Srvc
Crystal Mountain 27.0 in 0600 AM 02/12 Park/Forest Srvc
2 NE Vaughn 8.4 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Artondale 5.0 in 0420 PM 02/11 Public
Gig Harbor 5.0 in 0514 PM 02/11 Public
Tacoma 3.0 in 0332 PM 02/11 Public
1 S Ruston 2.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Steilacoom 2.1 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
University Place 1.5 in 0442 PM 02/11 Public
..San Juan County...
2 WNW Friday Harbor 7.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 S Roche Harbor 5.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
10 WSW Anacortes 4.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 N Friday Harbor 3.0 in 0523 PM 02/11 Public
..Skagit County...
3 S Marblemount 10.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 NNE Allen 7.0 in 0927 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Anacortes 6.5 in 0848 AM 02/12 Trained Spotter
5 N Sedro-Woolley 6.3 in 0928 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 SSE Anacortes 5.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 W Mount Vernon 3.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
La Conner 3.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 SSE Mount Vernon 3.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 WNW Snee Oosh 3.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..Snohomish County...
7 WNW Darrington 12.0 in 0800 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Cathcart 7.0 in 0822 AM 02/12 Public
2 NE Mill Creek 6.1 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 SSE Mill Creek 6.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
1 NNW Everett 5.5 in 0836 AM 02/12 Public
2 S Martha Lake 5.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 SSW Lake Stevens 5.0 in 0930 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 WSW Snohomish 4.6 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Lynnwood 4.0 in 0824 AM 02/12 Public
4 WNW Lake Goodwin 2.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
..Thurston County...
4 WSW Tumwater 10.2 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
7 NNW Littlerock 9.7 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
4 N Olympia 9.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
5 NNE Olympia 8.0 in 0300 PM 02/11 Cocorahs
1 W Olympia 8.0 in 0416 PM 02/11 Public
Littlerock 6.5 in 0217 PM 02/11 Public
Rochester 6.5 in 0148 PM 02/11 Public
1 SE Tumwater 6.5 in 0121 PM 02/11 Trained Spotter
..Whatcom County...
Mount Baker 20.0 in 0600 AM 02/12 Park/Forest Srvc
1 SE Sudden Valley 12.0 in 0830 AM 02/12 Public
5 ESE Van Zandt 8.0 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Glacier 7.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 NW Ferndale 5.1 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
2 SW Bellingham 4.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
Point Roberts 4.3 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
3 NE Marietta 3.5 in 0700 AM 02/12 Cocorahs
from Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog http://bit.ly/2RY6e2d
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