Plenty of Mountain Snow

A touch of The White will arrive later tonight and early Valentine’s Day.  Mug ready?

Patrons west of the Cascades, and esp here in Oregon, are likely to wake-up on Valentine’s Day with a touch of snow on the ground.  The ‘White Heart’ storm is pushing onshore as this is written.  Showers today (Mon Feb 13) will be intense at times, with graupel or hail at times, along with gusty winds.  Coast range/passes and Cascade range/passes will be hammered with snow.  Freezing levels will drop to near the surface overnight, so whatever moisture that falls should be SNOW.  A secondary Low is modeled to drift over OR very early Tue.  Depending on where the center of that Low moves onshore, sea level areas north will receive snowfall; south of the weak Low may not get as much snow, as a southerly breeze could keep the surface above freezing.  That said, we do expect many west side locations to receive an inch or less of snow; a few more inches if above 500 ft; over a foot on The White in the mountains.  If you are right under an intense shower - snowfall will be greater, for that moment.  

Tue night and early Wed expect ICY conditions on roads and walkways.  Don’t slip.  Temps will warm to seasonal norms during the week, with the next chance for precip arriving sometime on Fri, mainly over the north Puget Sound area.  The coming weekend looks mixed, with Sat being the drier of the two days; possible showers here & there on Sunday.  Overnight lows will continue to tease the freezing mark, if the sky clears in your location.

The week of Feb 20 - 24 does look damp, although the threat for a big snow event has waned (for now).  Strong cold Pacific storms will slam into the coastal areas of central BC, with the associated rain fields presenting rain & mountain snow to WA & OR.  As the week progresses, each Low center will track closer & closer to western WA, so we expect the intensity of the fronts to increase locally.  Snow levels will trend lower with each system, but since models now keep the overall track of these storms to the north - as compared to our earlier discussion - surface snow is not likely.

Quite like the week before, the weekend of Feb 25, 26 will bring on a couple strong storms to the PNW, with snow levels dropping to 1,000 ft with possible rain/snow mixed at times at the surface.  A cold pattern, if you will.  

Overall, the second half of February will provide an excellent addition to the PNW snowpack.  Stop by Fri for the next update.  Happy Valentine’s Day.