WASHINGTON — UPDATE FROM MORGAN PALMER AT 9:21 p.m.
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for locations from Tacoma southward, the Cascade foothills and adjacent locations, southern Washington and out to the coast into Thursday. As of this 9 p.m., the advisory does not cover the Seattle metro or Everett, and it is not expected to be expanded. In fact, I believe it is possible some of the advisory gets pared away by morning as the chances of significant widespread snow appear to be fading.
The snow we had on Thursday evening has largely faded to light flurries, except for some snow showers possibly mixed with light freezing rain across the south coast and southwestern Washington.
Most of the rest of the area will be relatively precipitation-free through at least 3 a.m. As the back edge of this weather system moves through the area toward daybreak, we could see some scattered light snow showers mainly south of Puget Sound and, eventually toward sunrise in the Cascades foothills from Snohomish County south.
Compared to previous forecast model data, the new updates are almost uniformly for less precipitation coverage and intensity across Western Washington. However, it must be noted that those forecast models do not handle light, spotty snowfall situations particularly well, so we will be watching the Stormtracker radar through the morning for any sudden developments.
Despite this decreased chance of significant snow Friday morning, the locations favored for an inch or so of snow will be in the Eastside locations east of Interstate 5 from southern Snohomish through Pierce County, as well as locations of Thurston County, Lewis County, and Mason County away from the water. Hood Canal region could also get a little snow.
The cities of Puget Sound, including Seattle, Everett, Bremerton, and Tacoma could well have flakes flying at times into the morning hours, but likely of little consequence, based on present information.
Drivers should be wary of the possibility of icy spots from refreezing of moisture from snowmelt and earlier precipitation.
By midday Friday, wintry weather should be done and some breaks of sun are possible with highs around 40. This could serve to melt snow on pavement or sidewalks.
Valentine’s Night and Saturday morning will be mainly free of precipitation and most areas outside of the foothills should be near or above freezing to start the weekend. Later in the morning through afternoon, rain will be moving in along with milder air. There could be a few wet snowflakes mixed in nearer the Cascades, but I expect no travel problems in the lowland from Saturday’s precipitation. In the mountains, 4-8″ of snow will fall from Saturday afternoon through Sunday with isolated totals over a foot. Highs will be in the 40s and lows in the 30s in the lowlands.
Next week will be milder with rain the lowlands and snow in the mountains.
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