December 2, 2022

Forecast: December 1st, 2022

Last updated 4:00 PM, Friday, December 2nd, 2022

By Anthony Edwards

What’s up y’all!

Hopefully everyone is having a great Friday, albeit a chilly one.

Temperatures struggled to reach the 40-degree mark today after some light snow showers this morning. It looks like Sea-Tac Airport topped out at 39 degrees, our eighth straight day of below-normal temperatures. Thursday night’s low of 27 degrees was our coldest temperature in the city since late February!

We’ll warm things up a little bit Saturday, but we have a lot to talk about before diving into specifics for the weekend.

There is an area of low pressure spinning well off the Washington coast this afternoon. With a cold high pressure system sitting over the interior of the state, cool, dry air is pouring out of the Cascade gaps and rushing toward this low pressure system.

As this system works its way south toward Oregon, it will spin in some moisture over Washington overnight. Thus begins the battle of the cool, dry east winds versus the warm, moist southerly winds. It will be an interesting battle to watch, because slight variations in how much moisture we have, or the trajectory of the system offshore, will impact how cold we get overnight and how much precipitation we have to work with.

In other words, a complex forecast is in store, with good news for snow fans along the Hood Canal, and not as good news for fans in the Eastern Puget Sound Lowlands.

Models are flirting with a anywhere from no snow and a cold rain to 3 inches of snow in the Seattle metro this evening, with the chance for more snow if you live above a few hundred feet. Folks west of Bremerton along Hood Canal will stay colder and have more moisture to work with, and up to 8 inches is possible in this area. Elevation will also be a key with the near-freezing temperatures melting the snow as it falls toward sea-level.

All in all, a wintery scene is a good bet for many folks tonight, but like much of the week already, some areas will miss out on the fun. A classic, difficult Seattle snow forecast for sure.

Saturday looks to clear out, especially by the afternoon, as temperatures bump up a few degrees the low-to-mid-40s. So any snow we do receive overnight will begin to melt as the sun rises Saturday morning. A clear night Saturday means cold temperatures in the low-30s, so black ice is a possibility overnight.

A flurry or rain shower is possible Sunday afternoon, especially further down toward the Oregon border, but temperatures will drop back down toward 40 degrees with a bit more cloud cover.

For the first full week of December, the Pacific Northwest will remain chilly, with a few chances of mixed precipitation from time to time. Temperatures well below average continue with highs on either side of 40 degrees and lows near freezing. No storms stand out in particular at this time, but the mountains will continue to pile up a nice early-season snowpack that has allowed ski resorts to open this weekend!

In the meantime, please send us your reports and photos tonight, it’s fun to see everyone’s enthusiasm, or hatred, toward snow in this area!

Reach forecaster Anthony Edwards at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu or on social media at Twitter: @TheUWDawgcast and Instagram: @UWDawgcast