Snow Update

Thursday, January 19,

5:20 P.M.

Hi everybody, this is just a quick update... the snow has stuck around longer than forecast, and freezing rain has mainly impacted areas south of Seattle, sparing the Seattle area itself. The snow has been going on all day here, and I'd say UW got about 2 inches out of this storm, maybe a little more.

I'm actually expecting another inch or two before we are done, as the precipitation, after briefly dipping south, is starting to rise back up north again. Temperatures have been below freezing all day here, and I doubt they will warm up significantly overnight. Friday morning should see a significant warm up, but temperatures may very well not get above freezing in some spots until daybreak. If this pans out, schools will likely be canceled.

05:25pm PST Wed 19 Jan 2012

One thing that makes me think that the cold air may stay around longer is the fact that both the surface temperatures and temperatures aloft are decreasing. Take a look at the latest profiler from Sand Point. This graphic shows the temperatures recorded throughout the atmosphere at different times of the day. As you can see, the air aloft is much warmer than the air at the surface due to relatively warm and moist Pacific air over-running the colder, drier, arctic air below. Still, the most recent sounding, the black one, is noticeably cooler aloft than the other soundings today.

Even though the event is not over, it'd be great to have some more preliminary snow totals!!!

Thanks,

Charlie