I try to get this information out before the Kitsap Sun, but alas they beat me to it. Regardless, there is a big fall storm headed our way for tomorrow which will produce up to an 1.50” of rain across the area with higher rainfall amounts in the mountains. After the storm passes Friday morning we’ll be under the influence of much colder air, with rain, clouds, sunbreaks and highs in the 40s to low 50s.
Please refer to the “Mountain Forecast” page of this blog for pass updates.
Here is the SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT issued by the National Weather Service in Seattle:
SPECIAL WEATHER
STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
555 AM PST WED NOV 4 2009
…RAPID CHANGE IN THE WEATHER IN STORE FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON ON
THURSDAY…
…UNSETTLED WEATHER CONTINUING THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT
WEEK…
AFTER A SUNNY AND WARM DAY TODAY ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON
THE
WEATHER SITUATION WILL CHANGE QUICKLY OVERNIGHT INTO THURSDAY. A
STRONG
COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND MOVE THROUGH
THE
REGION THURSDAY NIGHT CREATING A VARIETY OF WEATHER HAZARDS.
FOR THE COAST AND NORTHWEST INTERIOR…WINDS WILL INCREASE ON
THURSDAY TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. WINDS WILL BE EVEN
STRONGER IN THE MOUNTAINS. RIDGETOP WINDS FOR THE OLYMPICS AND
LOWER SOUTH FACING SLOPES WILL RANGE FROM 45 TO 65 MPH.
RIDGETOP
WINDS ALONG THE SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE CASCADES WILL ALSO BE
WINDY…WITH SUSTAINED WINDS UP TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE. THE STRONG
WINDS WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY RAINS…COMBINING FOR
DANGEROUS CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
WHILE RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE LOWLANDS WILL BE LESS THAN IN
THE
MOUNTAINS…THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE UP TO AN
INCH AND A HALF OF RAIN FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY
FRIDAY
MORNING. WHILE THIS MUCH PRECIPITATION DOES NOT NORMALLY CAUSE
URBAN FLOODING PROBLEMS…WITH PLENTY OF LEAVES POTENTIALLY
CLOGGING UP STORM DRAINS THIS TIME OF YEAR SOME LOCALIZED
FLOODING
IS POSSIBLE.
A VERY COOL AIR MASS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON BEHIND
THE
FRONT ON FRIDAY. SNOW LEVELS IN THE CASCADES…WHICH ARE UP NEAR
11000
FEET THIS MORNING,,,WILL DROP TO NEAR 3500 FEET FRIDAY. THE
SNOW
LEVEL COULD GET AS LOW AS 2500 FEET OVER THE WEEKEND. A WEAKER
WEATHER SYSTEM IS SCHEDULED TO REACH WESTERN WASHINGTON FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. WITH THE COOL AIR MASS IN PLACE…IT
IS POSSIBLE THAT ALL OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL SEE
PRECIPITATION
IN THE FORM OF SNOW WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE UNSETTLED WEATHER
PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND KEEPING SNOW IN THE
FORECAST FOR THE CASCADES. TRAVELERS USING THE MOUNTAIN PASSES
THIS WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
WINTER-LIKE
DRIVING CONDITIONS.
Matthew Leach
Forecasting Kitsap
Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: forecastingkitsap@live.com
7 DAY FORECAST
How strong will the winds be in the puget sound area? if i am looking at it right i see 20-30?
Yes, it appears we could see sustained winds of 15-25 mph with gusts in the 30-35 mph range. Nothing compared to the sustained winds of as much as 60 mph in the mountains!
Hey matt well if you want to get things out before kitsap sun here might be a story on the 12th 13th 14th and 15th stations are predicting Rain and SNOW mixes to even plain snow most likley mix except for at night the GFS are agreeing
Matt:
While it is all very interesting to look at, it is not worth mentioning at this time. PLENTY of things can change, and I would not want to alarm the public. When snow chances get within the 7 day time frame, however, then I might mention it 😉
Thanks!