January 25, 2021

Forecast: January 25th, 2021

By Matthew Charchenko

If you were hoping to see some snowflakes yesterday around Seattle, the cold rain that fell may have been extra disappointing. While our forecast models were showing the chance of a few snowflakes in places with some elevation at times on Sunday, we lacked meaningful cold and temperatures were just a bit too warm even for the hills.

Temperatures this morning are in the mid to upper 30s with some scattered showers around. Some of those foothill communities may see a snowflake or two mixing in with the rain, but we wont be seeing anything substantial come of it. Scattered showers will stick with us during the day today, but will begin to taper off into the afternoon hours.

While we wont be extremely cold by any means, you’ll still be able to feel the chill if you are out and about. Highs today will only be making it into the lower 40s pretty much everywhere you go. Temperatures tonight will drop into the upper 20s to mid 30s, so watch out for any black ice if you are out on the roads.

This pattern will remain in place for much of the week with occasional periods of precipitation spinning onshore and temperatures in the lower to mid 40s. Unfortunately, if you are a snow fan, we just don’t have enough arctic air built up in interior BC to funnel enough cold air into Western Washington for meaningful snowfall. Snow levels will remain low, meaning that we may continue to flirt with some snowflakes in the air over the next few days.

Your best bet of seeing some snow looks to occur Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, when a weak disturbance off the coast spins some moisture into the lowlands as a bit of cold air filters in. Snow levels look to be around 500ft with light precipitation, so while most of the Seattle metro will miss out on any snow, those higher hills may pick up a trace if we luck out.

Some of our snow favored areas such as the Hood Canal and Whatcom County will have the best chance of receiving some snowfall with this system, but accumulations still look to be light.

Reach forecaster Matthew Charchenko at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu. Twitter: @mcharchenko.

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