20121116

Snowbash Works!!

Last night was Snowbash - the annual bachanal Seattle party that raises a bit of coin for the Northwest Avalanche Center while also firing up the local community for the upcoming season (which really started in the past week, but you get the idea).

Obviously, no one was having a good time.

And it worked!  The weather forecast for this morning was:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
352 AM PST FRI NOV 16 2012

WAZ001-503>519-170030-
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-
EVERETT AND VICINITY-SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-
ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-
OLYMPICS-EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-
WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-
WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES-
WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
352 AM PST FRI NOV 16 2012

...AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL DEVELOP ON SATURDAY AND WILL
LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THANKSGIVING DAY...

A SERIES OF STRONG WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL MOVE THROUGH WESTERN
WASHINGTON...BEGINNING ON SATURDAY. EACH SYSTEM WILL BRING
RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WIND TO MAINLY THE COAST AND NORTH
INTERIOR...AND SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS.

RAIN...
A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN TO THE AREA ON SATURDAY.
ADDITIONAL STRONG FRONTS WILL ARRIVE LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND ON
MONDAY. THESE FRONTS WILL BRING PERIODS OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN TO
THE AREA...ESPECIALLY TO THE COAST AND THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA.
WHILE RAIN WILL BE LIGHTER BETWEEN FRONTAL SYSTEMS...THE PATTERN
WILL BE QUITE WET THROUGH THANKSGIVING DAY. AT THIS POINT IT
APPEARS THAT SOME FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE ON THE MORE FLOOD
PRONE RIVERS DURING THE UPCOMING WEEK.

WIND...
BREEZY OR WINDY CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY WITH EACH OF THE MAJOR
FRONTAL SYSTEMS...SATURDAY...LATE SUNDAY...AND MONDAY. AT THIS
TIME HIGH WIND IS NOT FORECAST...BUT PARTS OF THE COAST AND THE
NORTH INTERIOR WILL LIKELY GET WIND THAT IS JUST BELOW HIGH WIND
CRITERIA...SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS 45 TO 55
MPH.

SNOW...
THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FLUCTUATE BETWEEN 3000 AND 5000 FEET OVER THE
NEXT WEEK WHILE COPIOUS PRECIPITATION FALLS. AT THIS POINT IT
SEEMS LIKE A SURE BET THAT THE REMAINING OPEN HIGH PASS...
WASHINGTON PASS ON THE NORTH CASCADES HIGHWAY...WILL RECEIVE HEAVY
SNOW. PLACES LIKE PARADISE ON MOUNT RAINIER AND MT BAKER WILL ALSO
GET HEAVY SNOW. THE LOWER PASSES...SNOQUALMIE...STEVENS...AND
WHITE...WILL PROBABLY GET A MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION TYPES
INCLUDING SNOW...RAIN...AND FREEZING RAIN. HEAVY SNOW IN ONE OR
MORE OF THESE PASSES AT TIMES IS POSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS LIKELY TO BE
ADVERSELY AFFECTED.

WEATHER MODELS ARE CONTINUING TO HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH TIMING AND
OTHER DETAILS. BUT WITH AN IMPRESSIVE SERIES OF STORMS HEADED OUR
WAY...THERE SEEMS LITTLE DOUBT THAT WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL GET
THE SORT OF WET AND WINDY WEATHER THAT IS COMMON TO LATE NOVEMBER.


$$

WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE