Shivers are in evening forecast
Published 11:22 pm Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bundle up, it’s going to get cold and wintry.
Temperatures are expected to dip below freezing tonight, forecasters said.
Emergency shelters opened Thursday night and officials plan to keep the doors open at least through Saturday night.
Cold air is expected to mix with precipitation Saturday, and that means the possibility for snow.
“There’s a significant chance of snow for Saturday afternoon,” said Clifford Mass, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington.
Cold air from British Columbia is moving into the region, and lows in the 20s are expected tonight, said National Weather Service meteorologist Doug McDonnal.
“It’s a relatively rare occasion when most of the area is below freezing,” he said. “It’s not a real severe arctic outbreak.”
While colder than normal, the temperature probably isn’t going to wind up breaking records, which are in the teens.
“This is not anywhere near record-type weather,” McDonnal said.
Still, the Salvation Army and Trinity Episcopal Church planned to open emergency shelters to get people out of the cold air Thursday night. Those shelters are scheduled to remain open tonight and Saturday, officials said.
Saturday will bring more cold, and as much as 3 inches of snow could fall in parts of Snohomish County, McDonnal said.
If people want to buy Christmas trees dusted with snow, they better do it Saturday.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to last,” McDonnal said.
Warmer temperatures are predicted to return Sunday. Rain will probably wash any remaining snow away.
Heavy rains are a possibility for Monday, he said.
“Early next week possibly looks wet enough that there’s a potential for flooding on the more flood-prone rivers in Western Washington,” he said.
Rivers in Snohomish County, including the Stillaguamish, often spill their banks, he said.
“We could get some heavy rain, and that would be Monday,” Mass said.
Last year, heavy tropical rains caused flooding and millions in damage countywide. So far this year, rivers have stayed within their banks.
It’s too soon to know whether Monday’s predicted rainfall will be enough to swell local rivers, McDonnal said.
“That’s early next week. That’s pretty hard to pin down with any kind of certainty at this point,” he said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
