National Weather Service Briefing for December 16, 2022
12.16.2022
Here is the latest update on our winter weather! Potential exists for cold, maybe some snow, and maybe flooding later. Forecasts are still uncertain farther out; effects will depend on temperatures.
Please be careful if you are heading over the passes, or anywhere with a higher elevation, and make sure you have a go-bag of essentials in your vehicle in case you get stuck somewhere.
Weather briefing:
Youtube recording of presentation:
Key Points:
• A cooling trend is expected to last into at least early next week, resulting in an increasing chance of winter weather conditions beginning this weekend.
• For this weekend, the most likely areas of impactful snow will be across western Whatcom County, the Northern Olympic Peninsula, and within a Puget Sound Convergence Zone across northern King and Snohomish County. Mountain snow across Stevens & Snoqualmie Pass could create difficult travel conditions.
• Wind Chills could fall below 0°F across western Whatcom County Sunday night. Winds of 35-45 MPH possible in these areas.
• Significant uncertainty remains in the snow/ice/cold potential during the middle of next week.
– Tuesday Night into Wednesday currently appear to have the highest risk of significant snowfall
– The risk of freezing rain increases Tuesday night and persists through the week (peaking at a 25% chance late next week). However, this is HIGHLY dependent on temperatures.
• There is a chance of a rapid warm-up late next week, potentially resulting in heavy mountain snow, a lowland rain-on-snow event, river flooding, etc. leading into the holiday weekend.
Joan Cromley
Skagit County Department of Emergency Management
Office 360.416.1850
joanc@co.skagit.wa.us