EDITOR’S NOTE: The subfreezing temperatures will for the most part depart the North Olympic Peninsula this week, with only a chance of snow. The next storm will bring more rain than snow, including rain on Christmas Day.
Here is the latest National Weather Service forecast for this week:
This Afternoon: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. North wind around 8 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. South southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. Calm wind becoming east northeast around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tuesday Night: Rain and snow likely. Snow level 300 feet. Cloudy, with a low around 31. West southwest wind between 3 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday: Rain. High near 37. South wind between 6 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Wednesday Night: Showers. Low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Christmas Day: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday Night: Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.
Friday: Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40.
Friday Night: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 37.
Saturday: Rain. Cloudy, with a high near 42.
Saturday Night: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 38.
Sunday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 45.
Earlier story:
By Paige Dickerson and Erik Hidle
Peninsula Daily News
Meteorologists are still questioning whether the North Olympic Peninsula will have a white Christmas.
Converging weather patterns and predictions of slowly warming weather complicate forecasts, Johnny Burg, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said Sunday night.
“At this point it is hard to know,” he said.
“Some places might be lucky and some might not be.”
That isn’t to say, he added, that snow might not be on the ground on most of the Peninsula.
“The official definition of a white Christmas is that there must be an inch of snow on the ground,” Burg said.
By Saturday, temperatures Peninsula-wide should be in the 40s, Burg said.
How quickly the temperatures will return to normal remains to be seen, but likely the days with freezing temperatures are waning away, he said.
From Joyce west to Neah Bay, snow heavily blanketed the area and was still under winter storm warning late on Sunday night.
The rest of the Peninsula, including Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Forks, were under a storm advisory, and between 1 and 3 inches were expected on Sunday night and this morning, Burg said.
Neah Bay, Clallam Bay, Sekiu and Joyce were going to get about 3 to 6 inches, he said.
Snow is expected to melt off during the day and refreeze at night, he said.
“It could cause some precarious situations because it will melt during the day but then at night when the temperature drops all that snow will refreeze into ice on the roads,” Burg said.
“But by Saturday any precipitation that falls will be rain.”
Neah Bay, Clallam Bay, Sekiu and Joyce already have accumulated about a foot of snow with 3-foot drifts, Burg said.
Patti Adler, a Clallam Bay resident, said she and her husband, Brian, have been making it through but are holding their breath that winds don’t cause a power outage.
“[Saturday] night the wind was really going, close to 70 mph, and it knocked me right off my feet while I was shoveling out the snow,” Adler said.
Staying ahead
She said she has been staying on top of getting her walkway shoveled out but that some of her neighbors were blocked in the house.
Brian Adler works at the Clallam Bay Corrections Facility, she said, and his vehicle couldn’t make it through the hills and curves full of snow.
“The highway is passable but the other roads are still full of snow,” Adler said.
It took him about three hours to walk home, and she wasn’t sure if he would make it in today.
“It is a winter wonderland out there,” she said.
“I’ve lived here for 10 years and I haven’t ever seen snow like this here.”
Arterial roads in Forks were also an issue, Mayor Nedra Reed said.
“We have all the main roads cleared but the arterial roads are harder to plow because it rains and gets mushy and then the plow can’t push it as well,” Reed said.
Forks had between 5 and 6 inches of snow on Sunday, Reed said.
“But it started raining immediately, so it turned right to mush,” she said.
“But with these temperatures we might have a white Christmas despite ourselves.”
Port Angeles Police Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck said he hadn’t seen any major wrecks, and that cars off the road were the major problem with the icy road conditions.
No major problems
None of the Peninsula highways had blockages, and crews continued to work to keep roads cleared and safe, said Emily Chase, spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Transportation.
Jefferson County Sgt. Ben Stamper said no major wrecks had been reported in the county.
“People are being semi-careful about going out on the ice and snow,” he said.
“We’ve been really lucky, and all day [Sunday] it seemed like most people stayed home.”
By Sunday morning Brinnon area had an extra 7 inches with a total of 13 accumulated inches of snow, Burg said.
Jefferson County Undersheriff Tony Hernandez said law enforcement was prepared for the conditions.
“Any time that the weather gets bad like this, we always get everyone out in the four-wheel drive vehicles,” he said.
“As far as wrecks go we have mostly been responding to cars off of the road.
“Thank goodness we haven’t had any fatalities and no serious injuries today.”
Port Townsend Police Sgt. Michael Evans said he too hadn’t responded to any major wrecks.
“In town it has been all cars stuck or off the road, but there have been no big wrecks,” he said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
