Is Seattle about to be blanked in the snow dept. this winter?
A lot of Seattle snow fans hope for at least one or two blankets of snow around the city during the winter, but is this a year that goes down as a blank instead?
Despite the early disappearance of a snow-eating El Nino for a more typically-snowier neutral winter, this winter so far has seen a measurement-challenging 0.6 inches of snow at Sea-Tac Airport -- and probably lasted about as long as it takes for a jet to taxi from the gate to the runway.
And as the calendar gets set to switch to February -- the "August of winter" -- many are giving up on snow figuring the clock has run out and it's time to start thinking about the April showers and May flowers.
But! While the Seattle winter-time snow clock is probably about midway through the third quarter and there are no current prospects for snow in the lowlands through the first 10 days in February, it's not to say our chances are zero.
Seattle history is littered with some decent February snows, including two years ago -- well, at least in the general "Seattle area" if not Seattle itself. Western Washington had a snowstorm on Feb. 23-24 that brought between 6-18" of snow around the area -- some spots in Skagit County had even more. But the Olympic "Snow Shadow" kept Downtown Seattle and central Kitsap County mainly snow free.
I will admit before that snow, it had been a solid 12 years since a big February snow in 2001.
But according to local weather stat guru and former KOMO Weather Intern Jason Phelps, the frequency of February snows was much greater in the prior years.
"If you look at how often we normally get significant snow in February, it's much more often than every 10 years," he said. "2001, 1994 (8-10" in some foothill places), 1990, 1989 (big early Feb. snow and early Mar. snows), 1986, 1985, 1980, 1976, 1972, 1969, 1963, 1962, 1956, 1955, 1951, 1950, 1949, etc. It even snowed 16 inches on Valentines' Day in 1923. Also 1916 had a Ground Hog's Day snow of 26.5"! In 1884 there was a foot of snow on February 20 as well. And I guess the 10" of snow March 1st/2nd, 1989 came a day late :)"
Personally, I don't really declare the widespread snow chances dead until March 8 -- only because I remember getting caught in a heavy Seattle snow that date in -- 1997? -- on the way to the airport, although the snow ended just north of the airport itself.
As for this year, the odds might be low, but with still some time in the 4th quarter left, they're not zero.
(And then, there is this map from the National Center for Environment Prediction -- a 90 day forecast showing better odds for cooler than normal temperatures from February through April for the Pacific Northwest. It might just portend another chilly spring but at least for snow fans it gives a small ray of hope.)
I can remember years ago snowing in early April in Federal Way..but weather patterns have defiantely changed..ready for warmer days and less grouchy people.
Was this written by the same guy that talked about the effects of fog on the crowd noise at Century Link? *sigh*
I remember when my family and I went to California in April for spring break back in 2008 only to come welcomed back with 4 inches of snow!
I just bought a Subaru. I don't care what it does.
 @Ankle Biter Just don't end up on the side of the road in a ditch or snowbank like some other overconfident Subaru drivers I have seen.
 @PacNWDad It's usually the guys with the big jacked up 4X4's and the summer off-road tires that I often see in the ditch. This is my third Outback now and I know what they can do.
Snowing in Darrington now...
Forecast calls for a dry spell in the beginning of February with temperatures getting into the 50s. Sounds like the first taste of spring to me. Also probably the warmest weather will experience all month.
The snow that fell in Snohomis 3 weeks ago just finished melting away last Thurs. Granted, only an inch fell but it was too cold for it to melt.
@SoTweetie same here NE of Redmond, had an inch of snow and it stuck around from January 9th to the 25th
Um, realizing as we all do that the entire region goes completely off their meds at the mere mention of the word 'snow', why is this a bad thing? I mean, other than a white Christmas, why would anyone want snow in Seattle?
Snowing hard from Alder Lake to the mountain....nearly 2 feet in Ashford...a good dusting and slushy roads from Elbe north....just a few degrees cooler and it might snow in Eatonville! Right now it's 35.7 and rain....come on Mother Nature....you can do it! Bring that temperature down!!!!
Not even Feb yet....we might get our turn soon !
Spring will never ber dry and warm again those days or years are over, now we just have extended winters followed by a mere summer.
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 @Brian Lee Sure seems that way to me too : (
Be patient. You will get your snow between 2/10 and 2/14. Almost every year I can remember there is some snow between those dates.
It could be worse. A few years ago I was down in the Salt Lake City area visiting my brother in Mid-April. On the day before I left, the weather was quite nice with temperatures in the low 70s and clear skies. As soon as I was getting ready to drive home the next day, it began snowing like crazy. I ended up driving practically from Provo all the way to the Idaho border in near blizzard conditions, and with practically everyone on the freeways around me doing 70 like they always do (to be fair the snow wasn't really sticking to the roads, but I'm pretty sure a good case for "too fast for conditions" could have been made. Of course it was right back to being sunny again by the time I reached Burley.
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One thing nice around here. If you want snow just drive about an hour east. You'll find it.
No good wind storms, no good snow storms....just a bunch of "run of the mill" boring Washington winter weather so far....And now we have a cooler spring to look forward to? Seriously...if the winter isn't going to be a real winter and bring us some good storms then lets just skip it and go right into a warm spring and hot summer!
 @hopeforthefuture Your request for warmer weather will be processed in 6-8 months.
People up here call 50 something degrees spring. That's not spring, that's winter, well where I lived most of my life it was winter. The one time we got snow down there, I wasn't in town. I LOVE snow. As long as I can get around in it.
 @Stavrosworld Must be talking about Northern California where 50 degrees in the winter is norm. At least with 50 degrees I can wear one less jacket than 40 or 30 degrees.
Yay, another chilly spring where I salt the barrel of the gun, stare in the mirror in the morning and say, "nah, not today."
I don't think there will be snow and I hope there isn't.
It's a bit early to make this kind of prediction - I've seen snow in Seattle as late as March or April...
 @OrcasThunder I remember back in 2007 or 2008 when it snowed in the Convergence Zone BIT TIME in April. Had five inches at my house and drove home from work in near white out conditions. Nothing but mist and rain in Bellevue, pounding snowstorm at the I-5 / I-405 interchange.
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It was all gone by the end of the next day.
@Howard Beale @OrcasThunder I remember that....april 20th I had 4" of snow NE of Redmond...that was nice.
 @Howard Beale 2008 for sure, I took the family to Great Wolf Lodge in April and there was snow outside.
I want to see about 4' of snow in Seattle. That would be fun to watch.
 @JeepRex Jim Forman would have a heart attack
let it snow - just a couple inches for a couple days - enough to look pretty and to be able to say "it's snowing" !
I'll admit that I am one of those people that suffer from the winter blues. I am much more of a summer girl. Nothing beats a nice warm sunny day driving around with your windows down and the music turned up!Â
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With that being said, I'd like one good snow. I also enjoy feeling the coziness and quietness of a good snowfall. Having a reason to stay home so the kids can get bundled up and run out to play 10 minutes at a time then running back in to sit by the fire.
 @Tattooed_Angel you do make it sound nice. Too bad it's creeping along in bumper to bumper traffic, skidding on the iced up roads and having to drive with crazies for most people who can't afford to stay home by the electric wall heat.
 @Tattooed_Angel You make it sound so nice... now, I wish it would snow.
Please not another cold, wet, miserable spring!
 @Scoondog Not too worry, we don't have spring here. We have fall winter and summer.
Scottt, we may have had February snow before, but how often have we had snow in February when we didn't have any snow earlier in the winter (or late fall)?
Glad to hear about the cooler than normal next 90 days. At least we won't be expecting anything better (though after what, 3 straight years of way cooler & wetter springs than normal, was hoping we were due for a break).
I want a big snow storm on the first day of spring, like the one we had years ago.
It snowed last year in the Marysville, Snohomish, Lake Stevens area - a big white fluffy snow that melted within a few hours - on March 18th. Â All depends on where the snow wind blows, I guess.
We can only hope!. Keep it inthe mountains where it belongs because this riduculous town becomes a cluster-F when it snows!!!
There's no point of getting snow late in the season because it's a wet snow and it's barely cold enough for it too stick around long.
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@KOMO, shouldn't the headline read 'Blanketed', not 'blanked'?
 @SargeMcC  No "blanked" as in it's not going to happen ..Â
 @SargeMcC Yes -- "blank" as in zero :)
 @SargeMcC I think it means blank as in no snow.  A blank slate, so to speak...
No snow down here is more than fine by me..........keep it in the mountains, please!!
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Why no mention of the late February snow last year? Also am I the only one who remembers the snow we had in mid may several years ago? This was followed two weeks later by a big heat wave and we were over 80 degrees.
The convergence zone area seems to get the most frequent snow in March sometimes. Last year it snowed A LOT in march. Don't forget the April 17? 2008 snow storm where areas had 8 inches of snow overnight in the convergence zone.
April showers bring may flowers? Don't they mean April, May, June showers bring flowers and pissed of Washingtoninans?
NO SNOW? could it be Global Warning (Batman)? looks like the Earth will soon be turning into a "fiery ball of hell"..... Tune in next week, same truth channel, same truth time