Is lowland snow possible next week? This is what forecasters are thinking
After rain forecast for Saturday night, Whatcom County weather will change, adding to the possibility of lowland snow late next week.
Long-range forecasts show a strong chance that Western Washington will see below-normal temperatures through March, coupled with an equally strong chance of above-normal precipitation, said meteorologist Maddie Kristell at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“There’s not a certain day or time that we can nail it down, but there’s going to be a pattern shift,” Kristell told The Bellingham Herald.
She said daytime highs by late next week will hover around 40 degrees, or about 5 degrees below normal.
High temperatures have been about 7 degrees above normal in January, thanks in part to the “atmospheric river” of storms that battered the region with torrential rain and fierce winds.
For snow to hit Bellingham and the Whatcom County lowlands, “We would definitely need to see a setup where we would see an intrusion of cold air and some kind of modest precipitation.”
But that’s five days away or more, too far to forecast with any certainty.
“We will definitely be refining that (forecast),” Kristell said.
Weekend forecast
▪ Sunny skies Saturday with a high around 50 and rain developing Saturday night.
▪ Chance of morning rain, otherwise becoming cloudy with a high around 50.
▪ Cloudy Monday, highs in the upper 40s.
