Record Breaking Cold Through the Weekend

Seattle - Much of Western Washington has now been below freezing for more than 24 hours.  A new record low was set in Bellingham this morning as temperatures plunged to 3 degrees, beating the old record by 1 degree set back in 1950.  Many other spots saw record low maximum temperatures today.

In Seattle, we could see the coldest night in decades. The forecast low is 13 degrees at Sea-Tac by early Saturday morning. If that verifies, it will be the coldest low temperature recorded at Sea-Tac since 1990.

As the Fraser Valley winds ease up, easterly Cascade gap winds will pick up overnight and Saturday. Gusts could reach 40-50 mph in the usual spots influenced by the Cascade gap winds, like Enumclaw, North Bend, Monroe, and Maple Valley. Wind chill temperatures will be very cold in those spots tonight.  A wind advisory is in effect till 6pm for the Eastern Puget Sound lowlands.  Gusty winds may lead to some damage and power outages in these locations.  

Wind chill temperatures will be very cold in those spots tonight and early Saturday morning as strong Cascadia Winds will blow through the Cascade gaps.  The Wind Chill Advisory will expire for Whatcom County Saturday morning, but has now been extended to include communities in our Eastern Puget Sound lowlands. 

Another day with temperatures struggling to make it out of the 20's.  Continue to protect your plants, pipes, pets and people!

We are tracking another disturbance into the Pac Northwest, but this one will be farther to the south.  Best chances for snow with this will be Olympia southward, mainly Lewis County south.  The Portland area will be hit the hardest.  Travel will be difficult south on I-5. 

After the weekend, we will begin our gradual warm up.  There is another chance for more wintry mix from Tuesday evening into early Wednesday, but with temperatures warming by then too, it will quickly switch over to rain.  We will be back into the mid 40's by the end of next week.