With the potential of 1 to 3 inches of snow expected to hit the lowlands overnight, many are heading to hardware stores and gathering all the supplies they can, from ice melt to shovels.
“Any of the hand warmers. The footwarmers. All of those are big. We have a couple of electric hand warmers,” Sarah Portugal, assistant manager of Ace Hardware in Edmonds, said on Saturday.
Portugal tells KIRO 7 that before this past week, they were putting their winter supplies up and stocking the shelves with spring items. But she says with how cold it’s been, that changed quickly.
“I mean, we actually started packing away all of the winter stuff and storing it all. And then, you know, this week happened. And we were like, ‘Okay, let’s bring it back out,’” Portugal said.
She says it’s never a bad idea to stock up on supplies, even if it isn’t going to be too bad of a weather event.
“Like, you don’t want to slip going out to your car or trying to go down your driveway to check the mail. So, you’re not going to be upset if you have a small jug. Be ready to go,” Portugal said.
Several people KIRO 7 spoke with had mixed reactions to the winter weather this past week. While some have enjoyed it, others are ready for spring.
Forecast
Snow flurries have already started falling across portions of western Washington as of Saturday evening. Overnight temperatures will be cool enough to support lowland snow. Wet bulb cooling and warmer southerly winds will create wetter snow for the lowlands.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect through Sunday morning across areas west of the Cascades because of the anticipated snow accumulations (1-3″). A Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for our mountains and passes as heavier snow (12-18″) is expected.
Following the front headed our way, post-frontal showers will move in. Where there is rain/wet snow/small hail and even the possibility for an isolated thunderstorm, other areas may experience sunbreaks. With patchy activity with this front, Sunday is a mixed bag. Temperatures will sit in the lower 40s.
An upper trough of low pressure moves through Monday and Tuesday, keeping wet weather in the forecast. Mainly rain during the afternoon and evening but rain/snow mix overnights, so we’ll be watching for minor travel impacts in spots.
We’ll dry out a little mid-week. Temperatures will be slightly below average, but highs will still stay in the 40s in the lowlands through the first weekend of March. Our average highs are in the lower 50s.
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