Gusts as high as 55 mph are forecast to pummel western Snohomish County tonight and Thursday morning.
The heavy winds could snap tree branches and cause power outages, forecasters said.
“We’re certainly tracking the storm,” said Neil Neroutsos, a Snohomish Public Utilities District spokesman. “We have crews ready to go anytime.”
The storm also is forecast to dump as much as two feet of snow in the mountains, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Strong winds are expected to create snow drifts and possibly cause whiteout driving conditions in the mountain passes, he said. Avalanche danger is expected to be extremely high.
Backcountry travel is discouraged and anyone planning to drive over the mountain passes should be prepared for extreme winter conditions, Burg said.
Chains were required on U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass this morning, and I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass may be closed intermittently for avalanche control, state Department of Transportation officials said.
Last week, heavy snow in the mountain passes forced officials to close I-90 for most of the week. In Snohomish County, U.S. 2 was closed for long stretches of time to take care of spin outs, jackknifed tractor-trailer rigs and to clear avalanche danger.
The latest round of bad weather is forecast to move into the lowlands with strong westerly winds blowing in off the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Burg said.
“This can cause some damage,” he said.
The outlook is for the winter weather pattern to continue, he said. Things may dry out a bit Thursday night and Friday, but more rain is forecast for the weekend.
A La Nina weather pattern is causing wetter- and colder-than-normal conditions this year, experts said.
Still, there’s a slim chance for a couple of days of sunshine in about 10 days, said Alan Reppert, a meteorologist with Accuweather.com.
“If we do get a break, it’s probably only going to be a day or two,” he said.
Don’t expect to put away galoshes for long.
“It’s just going to be breaks between storms,” Reppert said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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