Lowland flurries possible ahead of big storm aiming for Whatcom County
Some areas of lowland Whatcom County could see snow flurries early Thursday, Dec. 9, as temperatures remain cold ahead of a stormy weekend.
“No meaningful accumulations are expected in the lowlands beyond the isolated dusting that may occur in areas north of Everett,” said meteorologist Maddie Kristell at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“Light snow will continue to fall in the Cascades but will be briefly winding down before the next system makes its way into the area,” Kristell said online Wednesday, Dec. 8.
That storm is carrying arctic air that’s loaded with subtropical moisture and headed straight for Western Washington.
“It’s certainly going to be a wet weekend, but not the torrential downpour that we saw last month,” meteorologist Mary Butwin told The Bellingham Herald.
But it will bring fierce wind and heavy rain to the Whatcom County lowlands and heavy snow to the mountains from Friday night into Saturday, both Kristell and Butwin said in separate online forecasts.
“This weekend storm is expected to be significant for the area,” Butwin said online.
Flooding on the Nooksack River is unlikely because the North Cascades will see snow and won’t contribute to runoff, Butwin told The Herald.
“This weekend system will be significantly stronger from what we just saw. We are expecting large snow accumulations in the mountains as well as windy conditions throughout the Western Washington area,” Butwin said.
“By Friday evening into early Saturday morning, a stronger low-pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska will be arriving,” Kristell said online.
Snow levels will be 2,500 to 3,500 feet in the Mount Baker wilderness, and more than 2 feet of snow is possible at elevations above 3,000 to 4,000 feet.
About 1 to 1.5 inches of rain is possible in the Whatcom County lowlands.
Sustained south winds throughout the Puget Sound regions could be 25 to 30 mph or stronger through late Saturday morning.
Gusts could be between 35-40 mph.
“We are expecting strong winds area-wide” that could cause power outages, Butwin told The Herald.
Winds should begin to ease by Saturday afternoon.
