Week of snow, January 14th-20th timeline

• Saturday January 14th: Snow showers no significant accumulations.
• Sunday January 15th: Snow showers, but not much in the way of accumulation.
• Monday January 16th: National Weather Service issued two winter storm watches for our area, one for Monday night-Tuesday, 2nd for Wednesday. More snow showers, little accumulation.
• Tuesday January 17th: 2 inches of new snow, some neighborhoods got up to 3 inches. Winter weather advisory was issued as a result. Winter storm warning issued for Wednesday.
• Wednesday January 18th: 2 new inches of snow, then a freezing mist leaving all surfaces, trees coated in ice, the weight caused several power outages throughout the area.
• Thursday January 19th: 2-3 new inches of snow. This was the day it was supposed to rain and didn't. Turned out to be the biggest snow day of the week, with temperatures hovering around 26°F all day, and moderate snow fall until about 4pm in the afternoon. Snow flurries throughout the rest of the evening. 
• This brought the total snow accumulation on the ground to 5-7 inches. Some daily melting was occurring during the week as temperatures rose during the day above freezing until Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued an Ice storm warning for the Seattle area, however we received snow, and no freezing rain after all.
• Friday January 20th: Dusting of snow overnight, temperatures started slowly warming from 25.3°F starting at 1am, breaking the 32.0°F mark at about 7:30 AM. The changeover to rain happened as the warm front started pushing through the area late this morning and this afternoon. Temperatures were in the upper 30's by late afternoon and the melting process began.

Shoreline Schools closed today

Going against their own winter policy, Shoreline School District originally decided to start with a 2 hour delay, however after most buses were within 5 minutes of delivering students to the high school the district called it a snow day.

Currently there is about 1 inch of snow on the ground, 32°F and moderate snowfall.  Winter Weather advisory calls for 1-3 inches of snow today until 4pm.   Winter Storm warning is in effect from midnight tonight until Wednesday night for 5-10 inches of new snow.

Arctic event, with snow for Shoreline and surrounding areas

In recent weeks there has been a bit of chatter about an Arctic air mass breaking loose and heading towards the Pacific Northwest.  It appears this is now more likely than it was before, and mainstream TV forecasters are now indicating a change to cold weather.  I am still following the developments but right now it appears that rain will arrive Saturday afternoon.   Saturday night the first cold air wave will push through, changing the rain to snow.  From Sunday through Tuesday it appears there will be hit and miss snow showers throughout Puget Sound, however a Puget Sound Convergence zone is expected to develop over North King County, and Southern Snohomish County.  This puts Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, and Lynnwood right in the bull's eye.  In this area 4-6 inches or more of snow is expected.

     Later next week, Thursday-Friday a bigger, more wide spread snow event is now shaping out to be very possible for the entire region.   I will continue to watch this event as it develops and post updates on Twitter and here.

Another wind advisory issued.

The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a wind advisory as of 3:42 PM December 28th, 2011.  Winds are expected to increase out of the south to 20-30mph tonight with gusts 40-50mph.  The winds are expected to be strongest near the water.  The advisory expires as 6AM Thursday morning.

A wind advisory is issued when sustained winds of 30-39mph or gusts of 45-57mph are likely.  Small branches may be knocked down, and localized power outages are possible.

Second power outage

We had another power outage tonight at 6:15 PM, it was for 30 seconds, so if the backup battery worked, the station should not have been effected.  However the outage on Christmas day has messed up the clock on the weather station, I will have it fixed within the hour, I'm not sure if it will correct the time stamp on previous data or not, however given it's only 1 hour difference I don't think it will cause any issues.

Wind Advisory issued for tonight/tomorrow morning.

The National Weather Service in Seattle issued a Wind Advisory at 2:55 PM this afternoon.  The advisory is in effect from 6 PM tonight, December 27th, 2011 until 4 AM tomorrow morning December 28th, 2011.  This advisory covers all of the Puget Sound Lowlands, including Shoreline, and Lake Forest Park.  Winds are expected to pick up out of the south to southeast after 6pm tonight, and peak between 10 PM and 2 AM.  Winds are expected to be sustained between 20-35mph with gusts up to 50mph.  This appears to be rivaling the Christmas day winds.

A wind advisory is issued when sustained winds of 30 - 39mph or gusts of 45 - 57mph are likely.  Winds this strong can snap small branches, cause local power outages, and knock over small, shallow rooted, unhealthy, or dead trees.

It may not hurt to secure any lose belongings or decorations in personal properties.  Stay safe!

Christmas Day storm wind gusts

Shorecrest High: 37mph
Brookside Elementary: 28mph
Central Market 37mph

Looks like the general wind speed gusts in Shoreline peaked at about 37mph, at about 11:30am.

Other reports indicate that winds in the Richmond beach area reached 50 mph.