16 degrees in Everett? More snow, freezing cold to come
EVERETT — The scant snow you woke up to Monday may be just the beginning.
Areas east of Lake Stevens had about an inch of snow by Monday morning, the National Weather Service reported. How quaint! Parts of Gold Bar and Index got 4 inches.
A winter storm watch will be in effect for much of Western Washington from 7 pm Monday to 7 pm Tuesday, according to the weather service.
On the US 2 corridor, the farther east means more snow in the forecast. Everett was predicted to possibly get 1 to 3 inches Tuesday. In Monroe, it’s up to 2 to 4. Gold Bar: 3 to 5. Near Baring: 4 to 8.
Along I-5, in cities like Edmonds, Marysville and Arlington, the snow potential looked similar to Everett.
Most of Tuesday’s snow was expected to come before 4 pm
Another dusting could arrive Thursday, just three days before Christmas, but the total accumulations were forecast to be less than half an inch.
As for the Christmas Eve and Christmas snow that Washington’s own Bing Crosby crooned about, rain is in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
But the more significant detail to look out for this week may be the temperatures.
Nighttime lows Wednesday in eastern parts of the county were forecast at 12 degrees. That’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius.
In Everett, the low Wednesday was predicted to be 16 degrees. Lows on Tuesday and Thursday were expected to be a few degrees warmer after the Wednesday cold patch. Highs Tuesday will only barely escape freezing in a few parts of the county, according to the weather service.
The lows likely won’t quite reach the record setting, frightful winter of 2008. On Dec. 20 that year, temperatures dipped below 11 degrees in Everett, according to Weatherbase.com. The historic average is a low of about 36 degrees.
On Dec 21, the record was set in 1998 at 19 degrees, according to Weatherbase. The forecast Monday morning was for 16 degrees on Wednesday.
Snohomish County’s cold weather shelters usually open on nights with lows forecasted below 34 degrees. There are shelters in Everett, Marysville, Monroe, Lynnwood and Snohomish. Local libraries and a few other spaces, like the Edmonds Waterfront Center, can serve as daytime warming centers.
At Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Marysville, the shelter “hit a milestone” Monday night, shelter coordinator Nathan Ray said. It opened three beds, expanding capacity to 28, in the face of increasing demand. Of the 28, only one was left vacant Monday.
On Tuesday night, the Marysville shelter, opened last year amid worries over no such space in north Snohomish County, planned to open up two more beds, bringing the total to 30. Including plans for Tuesday, it’s been open 13 of the 19 nights this month. In November, it was 2 of 30. They haven’t yet had to turn anyone away.
“We’re ready in case we get hit,” Ray said.
Of the guests, the Marysville shelter has seen a surprising need from female guests. He said the standard is 18-25% of all guests. It’s consistently been 35-45% there. And lots of the guests live in their cars, but without heat, that doesn’t provide much respite from the cold, Ray said.
As someone who has worked in disaster relief, including the Oso landslide, for two decades, Ray said nothing compares to his work at the cold weather shelter in Marysville.
“I’ve done a lot of things in my life and this is definitely the most rewarding,” he said Monday. “This is a more slow moving and permanent disaster.”
Jake Goldstein Street: 425-339-3439; [email protected]; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.