Dual storms to impact Northwest with rain, mountain snow this week
The last several days have been fairly dry in the Northwest, but AccuWeather meteorologists say that a stormier pattern is on the way for the region.
Precipitation typically increases in the Northwest during the fall and winter months. AccuWeather's team of expert meteorologists says that two storms are likely through the middle of this week.
"The Northwest is going to have multiple storms over the course of this week, bringing rain, mountain snow and cold weather," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Emma Belscher.
After much of this week has been dry and rain and snow were focused much farther to the east over the Rockies and Plains, difficult travel conditions will arrive with precipitation and wind by Sunday night into Monday morning.
As is often the case with storms in the Pacific Northwest in the fall, snow levels will initially start out rather high. From Sunday night to Monday, however, snow levels will fall. That said, much of the snow is expected to remain above most of the passes in the Cascades.
"Snow levels will be at their lowest across the Cascades at the beginning of the week, when they are expected to dip to around 4,000 feet," said Belscher.
"Many of Washington's passes are below this elevation, but higher ones such as Snoqualmie and Stevens could have snowflakes mix in," she explained.
Rain and snow will advance east of the Cascades and down into California during the day on Monday. Most of the precipitation is not expected to get farther east than western Montana and farther south than Northern California through the day on Monday. By Monday night, snow could get as far south and east as western Wyoming and northeastern Utah.
Even though snow is not expected to accumulate at pass level, the snow could still be blown around with windy conditions expected in the mountains. Higher winds are also likely at the coast. This is due to less friction over water, so the wind speeds are frequently elevated a bit right along coastal locations, in contrast to areas just inland.
Precipitation and the winds will both taper off on Tuesday, but it will still be breezy and at least a few showers will linger in locations such as Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon with snow showers continuing in the mountains.
The next storm will arrive by Tuesday night and it too will be significant. While rain, mountain snow and gusty winds will occur with this storm as well, any notable precipitation will struggle to push inland when compared to the preceding system. Despite that, totals will be impressive along the coast from both events.
"Rainfall totals could be as high as 3-4 inches in the Olympics and 1-2 inches for Seattle and Portland," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco.
Recent systems have largely eliminated drought that was affecting western portions of Washington and Oregon earlier this fall. Even though rain rates are not expected to be overly excessive, there could still be some minor issues.
"With repeated rounds of rain, there can be localized flooding on streets and in low-lying and poor-drainage areas," cautioned Belscher.
Sometimes when a storm arrives in the Pacific Northwest, this causes strong winds and an increase in the wildfire risk farther to the south. Winds will not be overly strong, but bouts of gusty winds will heighten the risk of wildfire ignition and spread somewhat.
After midweek, a several-day break in precipitation and wind is expected along the coast. A few snow showers will be possible in interior portions of Oregon, Idaho, California and Nevada. However, the precipitation will be fairly light. It may take until late in the weekend or early the following week for the next impactful storm to come ashore.
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