Meteorological Winter Begins With More Snow: December Weather Outlook

SEATTLE — The winter solstice is three weeks out, but winter begins Thursday in a meteorological sense, and there is a pretty good chance that many in Puget Sound will kick off the season with fresh snow.

Differing from astronomical seasons, meteorologists and climatologists measure the periods in three-month cycles, based on their annual temperature patterns. In the Northern Hemisphere, meteorological winter covers December, January, and February.

The first blast of wintry weather hit Western Washington about as unevenly as expected, with snow totals as high as a foot in parts of North Bend, 3 to 4 inches falling in Kirkland and Redmond, and just about an inch recorded in Seattle. As of Wednesday morning, Snoqualmie and Stevens passes had picked up 22 and 18 inches of snow respectively.

As overnight temperatures plunge again Thursday, a similar scenario is likely, and morning commutes are fairly certain to be slick.

"Confidence in the potential for additional lowland snow and how widespread it may be is quite low," NWS Seattle wrote Wednesday morning. "As a [general] rule, [we] have a forecast of generally 0.5 to 1.5 inches of snow across most of the lowlands from Wednesday evening through Thursday afternoon, but any specific bands of snow could bring locally higher amounts while nearby locations get mostly or entirely shut out."

Higher elevation hills, as usual, will have the best chance for meaningful snow, but forecasters said variables will make all the difference, even over small geographic areas. Temperatures will chill further Thursday, and dip into the low 20s overnight into Friday, bringing widespread freezing and a chance for more snow Friday.

While the region is getting a jumpstart on wintry weather, updated climate outlooks favor cooler, wetter weather for most of the month ahead, leading all the way up to Christmas. Hazard 0utlooks show a slight risk for heavy precipitation and colder temperatures again next week.