The National Weather Service has a winter storm warning in effect until late afternoon on Saturday. Meteorologists predict even more snow throughout the next week.The storm that hit the area earlier this week dumped two and a half inches on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and up to 12 inches on smaller cities outside Seattle.This pattern of winter storms is rare for Seattle, said Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. Lots of kids (and cops) out sledding so please drive safely and take it slow," The now started falling Sunday afternoon and came down heavier than many people expected. "If you or someone you know is living outside during this period of severe cold, let them know about this opportunity to stay safe and warm," The DOT said numerous spinouts were reported on interstates, and Interstate 5 through Seattle was shut down at times for snow removal and because of wrecks.The Seattle DOT put 37 plows on the street, some loaned from other agencies, and others trucks outfitted with plowing equipment, said Ethan Bergerson, spokesperson for the agency.Many people had fun in the snow.
The company warned about outages continuing, because there were 33 in its service area, impacting about 6,000 people.Shelters for the homeless were opened or expanded in the King County Administration Building and the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Up to six inches is expected in areas of higher elevation east of Portland.Another storm that is predicted for Sunday is likely to keep snowfall totals climbing.Farther south along the West Coast, heavy snow was expected from California’s northern coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, said Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Schools shut down entirely for Monday in Seattle and surrounding systems. "But as the snowfall increased, it was determined that roads were too challenging with ice and snow," spokesperson Tim Robinson said in an email. Twitter was filled with pictures of people skiing and ice skating on city streets and the police department in Duvall, about 40 miles east of Seattle, posted a Facebook video of officers with a SWAT shield having a snowball battle with a group of kids in a field. On Friday, that location received more than six inches, the weather service said.More than 200 flights at the airport were canceled on Friday, according to And because Seattle residents are not accustomed to this sort of weather, “people are going out of their minds,” Professor Mass said. Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s on Monday night in Seattle.At the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, about 2.5 inches of snow was reported, causing flight delays of three-plus hours. “The supermarkets are getting stripped of all food.”In Portland, Ore., which has an average snowfall similar to Seattle’s, a winter storm warning stretches from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon, and the National Weather Service was forecasting from one to four inches. Another storm is predicted for Thursday.“The cold air is in place, and it’s not going anywhere,” he said.At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the average yearly snowfall is less than seven inches, said Kirby Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The Pacific Northwest has begun getting hit by an unusual series of winter storms that started on Friday and was expected to stretch into next week, while parts of California began to get pummeled with snow.Areas around Seattle received four to six inches of snow during the city’s second bout of winter weather in the past week, a storm that is likely to stretch until late afternoon on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. the airport tweeted.More than 12,000 people were without power in Washington state due to snow-related outages. Heavy snow in Seattle requires an unlikely mixture of moisture and cold air, Professor Mass said, but the moisture from the Pacific Ocean tends to be relatively warm.“What we need is a very specific weather situation that allows us to be isolated from the ocean’s warmth but also draw some of the moisture off the ocean and use that for snow,” he said.There is also a chance for a modest snowstorm on Sunday night and a heavier one on Monday night, Professor Mass said.
CNN's Pierre Meilhan and David Williams contributed to this report.About half a foot of snow fell on the Emerald City, as much as it usually gets all year, CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said. After a snowstorm last week, more than 120 visitors and staff members were stranded for five days at Montecito Sequoia Lodge in Kings Canyon National Park, where up to seven feet of snow fell, The Associated Press reported.Mr. The storm that hit the area earlier this week dumped two and a half inches on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and up to 12 inches on smaller cities outside Seattle. Meanwhile, Seattle's utility company, Seattle Light, said its crews had restored power to more than 4,000 people. Seattle got almost the same amount of snow it gets in a year in one day, leaving officials scrambling to get people off the streets and Washington's governor declaring a state of emergency. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Blizzard warnings were in effect for parts of the Sierra, and much of the Northwest was under winter storm warnings and advisories. Teenager Makes Thousands Plowing Snow During Seattle’s Historic Storm US Zachary Stieber Feb 20, 2019 Share Cars, trucks, and a lone cyclist make their way in the snow in Olympia, Wash., on Feb. 8, 2019. Seattle and other areas of the Puget Sound are bracing for a winter storm that is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of snow The Capitol campus in Olympia Washington pictured above blanketed in snow. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.Roadway conditions, perfect for sledding...not so much for driving.