Seattle forecast: Chilly with a chance of snow showers, then chillier

Pennsylvania’s weather-predicting groundhog saw his shadow Sunday, meaning six more weeks of winter are on the horizon. Bah, humbug! Looks like Washington got the memo,with snow sweeping Seattle and the Cascades.

Flurries dusted Seattle on Saturday afternoon, while Snoqualmie Pass got 6 inches of fresh snow in the past 24 hours and 13 inches in the past two days, National Weather Service Meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch said early Sunday.

Saturday’s snowfall was brief and melted fast at sea level, leading to jokes online about Seattle’s weather mood swings.

“We’re seeing some snow showers spread across the (Olympic) peninsula and into the Puget Sound right now, and today is probably going to be similar to a rinse and repeat like we saw yesterday,” DeFlitch said Sunday.

The day did bring another round of snow showers and sunbreaks, with less than a half inch of accumulation. Monday will likely see some flakes too, with a 60% chance of snow in the Seattle area.

As bitter Canadian winds travel south, temperatures will continue to shimmy down the thermometer this week, with nighttime lows likely in the 20s or 30s, according to an updated forecast from the National Weather Service on Sunday afternoon. Monday will bring a new cold front.

In Lynden near the U.S.-Canadian border, the apparent temperature is likely to dip as low as 5 degrees early Monday, according to the weather service.

“The next big thing (after) these snow showers the next 36 hours or so will be the cold temperatures that set in,” DeFlitch said. “So we’re looking for cold temperatures and overnight temperatures dropping down into the low to mid-20s, pretty much Wednesday into Thursday morning. And it’s going to stay cold pretty much through all of the week.”

While more snow is forecast, Seattleites probablydon’t need tostart dusting off shovels just yet.

The snow is not likely to stick much in Seattle, but it will farther east and north of the city, DeFlitch said.

“Places like Forks on the coast and up toward Bellingham have the better chance of seeing sticking snow and already are seeing it now,” he said. “Around Seattle, we’ll have a little bit more of a difficult chance to see that.”

In summary, it looks like Punxsutawney Phil got it right. Our winter shows no signs of letting up. So, bundle up, Seattle! It’s going to be a cold one.

Those looking for a place to warm up can visit kcrha.org/resources/severe-weather-shelter/ to find resources and open warming centers.