Literal ‘Seattle Freeze’ sets in with possible slush, snow on tap as temps rise

Frigid temperatures continued to roll through Western Washington Monday, albeit warmer than the record-breaking conditions we saw over the weekend. .

Sunny skies on Monday brought temperatures just above freezing in the low-to-mid 30s, with the next active weather kicking in tomorrow.

Tuesday will start dry but clouds will increase throughout the day, with moisture increasing into that evening. Drivers should be on the watch for icing issues on untreated roads and hills, particularly in the South Sound with some non-accumulating snow in some spots.

Often when we have a prolonged cold snap like this, it can be very tricky warming up, especially when any moisture moves in. On late Tuesday afternoon, a large system will move in and the precipitation will be interesting. When the precipitation starts, it could start as snow, rain, and wet snow, or even some freezing rain.

Some brief accumulating snow looks possible before turning to rain either very late Tuesday or very early Wednesday. If we get a quick couple of inches in Olympia on Tuesday night, it will quickly turn to rain by late Tuesday or very early Wednesday. That could be messy for commuters Tuesday night.

Most of the area will be in the low-40s on Wednesday with just rain and a lot of snow in the mountains. However, we may get some heavy and longer lasting snow in Whatcom County through Tuesday or maybe even into Thursday. We need to watch the North Interior of the state closely, but we will moderate even to our north later this week.

The rest of the week then will have just pockets of cool rain, warming our temps each day until we are in the low-50s by Sunday.

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