If anyone thinks La Nina will sneak away without notice, the latest model predictions will leave you in disbelief: An unusual cold snap will hit next week, with multiple daily cold records to be broken.
But there’s more to it: massive snowfalls will hit the mountains of the entire West Coast.
Let me start with the predictions for Seattle and Pasco, WA for next week, based on predictions from the National Weather Service Modeling Complex.
There will be warming over the weekend through Monday, with a transition taking place on Tuesday as the variable arctic air rushes in.
Wednesday-Friday highs will be at 30 and lows will be at freezing or below every night, bottoming out at 22F Friday morning.
For Pasco, it’s even colder, with temperatures dropping to their lowest point.
Now, let me show you a pressure and temperature map (at about 2500 ft), which will give you a good sense of how the North Pole is coming our way! I’ve waited until now to bring up this discussion–wait until we’re close enough to trust the forecast.
Let’s start at 4 a.m. Tuesday (purple and blue are the coldest). Very cold air is about to hit the Northwest…with the coldest temperatures east of the Rockies. At this point, a cold front has just moved over western Washington.
By Wednesday morning, extremely cold air was moving southeast of the Rockies, with very cold air entering eastern Washington through the Okanagan drainage system. The changing arctic air covers the entire Northwest. Cold northeasterly winds will blow across the Fraser River Valley towards Bellingham.
Pretty much the same story for Thursday morning, but colder. Life-threatening conditions in Montana. Any Chinese balloons that land there at this point will be frozen.
EVEN COOLER on Friday morning, but a wave of warmer air is approaching!
What about snow? Total snowfall is predicted until 4pm Monday is substantial in the central to northern Cascades, southern BC and in the Rockies.
And as the cold air pushes south, large amounts of snow will move into Oregon and California, especially at high altitudes. Great news for California’s water supply this year.
At this time, no major blizzards are expected in the lowlands, but A relatively modest change in the forecast could change that. We’re cold enough to have snow… the moisture is missing!
Central Europe will be about an inch long at SEATAC next weekend, while the National Weather Service’s GFS model is about half a foot long (but it’s very snowy).
In any case, the area should be prepared for the cold. Homeless people should be brought inside, pets should be kept indoors and hoses should be disconnected from their faucets. Remove thermal underwear and stock up on hot chocolate and coffee.
