Another round of Western Washington snow, but relief is in sight

Rain, snow mix possible later Thursday in some spots

We're pretty much done with this round of snow but some spots could get a rain and snow mix.

Seattle - The central and south Puget Sound areas saw 2-4" of widespread snow Thursday morning with higher totals in the north sound.

A few light flurries are lingering this morning, but the heaviest snow has passed into eastern Washington. The rest of the day will bring mostly cloudy skies and highs into the mid 30s. At around 6:00 this morning, Seattle and SeaTac made it above freezing (32°) for the first time since Christmas Day. These were the temperatures at 7:00 AM.

I-90 was shut down from North Bend to Ellensburg starting at around 4:30 AM Thursday due to heavy snow, low visibility, and strong wind. WSDOT crews hope to have the road back open by 1:00 PM, but the timeline is still up in the air.

With these warmer temps in the lowlands today, we will likely see some melting around the area, but drivers should use caution after the sun goes down. Temps will plummet back into the mid 20s tonight, freezing whatever is wet. This could lead to a very icy Friday morning commute.

New Year's Eve will be mostly sunny and dry with high temps back into the low 30s. Overnight lows on New Year's Eve night will once again be back into the 20s, so be very careful on the roads after your New Year's celebrations.

Saturday, a very weak system will push into the Olympic Peninsula bringing some rain and snow showers to the area, but it shouldn't have much of an impact around the Puget Sound area. For now, I'm calling it "mainly dry" that day.

Temps on Saturday will warm to around 40°. Even better, Saturday night's low temperatures should remain above freezing as rain showers arrive but there is a chance of a rain/snow mix at times.

Widespread rain returns Sunday afternoon and evening and will pick up in intensity heading into Monday. Don't forget to clear your storm drains of snow and ice before then. Urban flooding is possible in these situations when rain arrives after heavy snowfall due to clogged storm drains.

I should mention that some models are hinting at the possibility of wet snow on Monday morning. For now, I'm keeping it as rain, but it's something we'll be watching.