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Various forecasts predict several inches of snowfall for region

Snow fell this morning in Snohomish County, delaying some school districts. This view is outside Glendale Elementary in Lake Stevens, where school started on time. Scattered snow showers fell around the region today, and more is on the way.
KOMOcommunities video
Snow fell this morning in Snohomish County, delaying some school districts. This view is outside Glendale Elementary in Lake Stevens, where school started on time. Scattered snow showers fell around the region today, and more is on the way.

Several inches of snow are on the way to Puget Sound's lowlands. Exactly which areas will get the greatest accumulation is something forecasters say is tough to predict, but a number of sources say their models show anywhere from two to six inches in the Seattle area, and up to eight inches or more in Snohomish County and northward.

The National Weather Service in Seattleissued a "Winter Storm Watch" for the region:

 

An Arctic air mass dropping south from British Columbia, combined with a developing low pressure off the Washington coast will give the potential for heavy snow over all of the lowlands of Western Washington beginning Wednesday and continuing into Thursday morning.

 

University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor Cliff Mass writes in his weather blog that various forecast models are consistent in the timing of the event. Mass says snow accumulations will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, but in general:

My prediction: South Seatttle--1-3 inches, North Seattle--2-5 inches, northern Snohomish (3-8 inches).

KING-TV reports several accidents on eastbound I-90 forced closure of the freeway over Snoqualmie Pass on  Tuesday afternoon at Mile Post 47 (Denny Creek). 

Traffic Adjustments Made Ahead of Snow

KING reports transit authorities are making plans to help traffic:

WSDOT planned to keep the I-5 express lanes open overnight Tuesday. The lanes will remain open northbound through 11 p.m. The lanes will re-open in the southbound direction at midnight for the Wednesday morning commute, then re-open in the northbound direction at noon.

Local transit agencieswill rely on snow routes and emergency operations as needed.

If you want to see what's ahead for a greater swath of the region, this video was shot in Lake Stevens Tuesday morning by KOMOcommunities: