In what was kind of a warmup for the upcoming winter season, snow started falling at the passes on Tuesday and more is expected on Wednesday.
The first taste of snow was seen along SR 410 at Chinook Pass.
By 6 a.m. Wednesday, Snow totals were around 6 inches and climbing at Stevens Pass, around 2 to 3 inches at Snoqualmie Pass, and at least 8 inches at the Paradise Visitor Center.
“We’ll see another inch or two at the passes, with more at 5,000 feet or higher,” Meteorologist Nick Allard said.
We spoke with Skykomish residents about the snow.
“There’s always a level of preparedness, you know, living up here, working up here. We all have all-wheel drive but it’s also watching the news, checking online to see what the conditions are, seeing if we need chains and just being slow and cautious on the road,” said Amanda Robinson, who works in Skykomish.
>>Mountain Pass reports from WSDOT
Lowland forecast
The showers will decrease quite a bit with just a few showers lasting into the afternoon and evening. We should see a lot of sunshine as well, with at least partly sunny skies. Highs will stay chilly in the low-50s.
Skies will clear a lot Wednesday night, leading to much colder conditions and eventually some low clouds Thursday morning. We will see widespread temperatures around or even below freezing in some spots, which is why there is a Frost Advisory for a lot of Western Washington from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 9 a.m. Thursday, not including Seattle and western King County near the water.
We’ll see a mainly dry day Thursday with increasing clouds late in the day with a few showers possible late into early on Friday with some more mountain snow.
It’ll be clear and cold over the weekend with many locations in the upper 20s and lower 30s Saturday and Sunday mornings with highs in the 40s to near 50. The immediate Seattle metro area and parts of the central Sound could bottom out just above freezing over the weekend, and just above the record lows.
While some in Skykomish say they like the snow, they don’t like the traffic that comes with it.
“On Highway 2, people seem to drive a lot faster than they probably should be driving, especially when the roads are slick,” said Destry Jones, Principal at Skykomish School District.
Washington State Department of Transportation officials are pleading with people to drive safely and prepared this winter season.
They recommend checking conditions before heading out, having tire chains on hand, fueling up, and packing an emergency kit.
>>Winter driving tips from WSDOT
“Take your time, slow down, be safe. The destination is not as important as being there in a quick and speedy way as a matter of being there, so take it slow,” said Jones.