Pacific Northwest Bracing for Snow Followed by Bitter Cold

SEATTLE (AP) — The Pacific Northwest is bracing for a major winter storm with snow expected along the coast, the mountains under a winter weather advisory over the weekend and frigid temperatures expected by early next week.

The Seattle-Tacoma area is likely to see up to 3 inches of snow over the weekend, with a chance of accumulations reaching 6 to 8 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

By early next week, the Pacific Northwest will see temperatures plunge. The Seattle area will dip as low as 18 degrees F (-7.7 C), the lowest in several years. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, will drop to -5 F (-20 C) by Wednesday.

In Portland in the early part of next week, overnight temperatures will be bitter cold, getting down to the low 20s and high teens.

“Arctic air moving in by the first part of next week, giving us the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in almost 30 years here in western Oregon,” KATU Meteorologist Dave Salesky said.

In Seattle and Tacoma, rain or a rain-snow mix are likely Saturday with a high of 39 degrees F (3.8 C), changing to snow after 7 p.m. and a low of 25 F (-3.8 C), the Seattle Times reported.