TexOctWed

When is it most likely to snow in Seattle?? Never??

Don

January or February, most likely. It's not a real common event. But drive from Seattle toward the Cascades, and you'll see plenty of snow...

stormygirl

Also if it snows at all it will usually be melted within hours, if it even sticks which is rare!!

Gardyloo

But when it does stick, oh mama.

But not only Jan/Feb. One of the worst snow events in the last 20 years or so was one Thanksgiving weekend in the mid 80s (1985?) when it snowed a ton, went down into the teens, and stayed there for several days. I had funerals for all my azaleas the next spring.

Fodorite018

I remember that one Gardyloo! Trying to get back home from college was quite dicey...then heading back was even worse!

Kostroma

Do you all remember the storm that hit in December of 1990? That snow stuck around a while. My mom and I lived in Renton at the time and she was working as a nurse in Burien. She just stayed overnight at her job the entire week.

There was also a doozy back in '96 or '97 I believe.

That being said, more than 2 inches of snowfall in Seattle is usually cause for 24 hour STORM coverage on our local news that consists of them showing the same cars sliding down the same hills repeatedly and taking calls from people describing the snow in their backyards.

Fodorite018

Yes, I remember both of those. The one in '90 was not nice to our air travel to CA. The one in '96 we only viewed from afar. We were stationed in upstate NY and getting buried under tons of snow and FIL sent a tape of all the coverage from Seattle. DH and I were literally on the floor rolling laughing with tears running down our faces the coverage was so funny. I only say that because we grew up in OR and WA and know how these storms completely shut down life here...even if it is only an inch or two.

DeborahB

I haven't lived there in many years but I don't recall getting much to any snow. There was winter though, I was driving from Seattle to Olympia Christmas morning. It was fog and the fog was freezing the bridges. Wasn't expecting that and neither was anyone else. We we're lucky that day to miss rear ending the line of cars that had already wrecked in front of us.

repete

I don't live there any more, but if it slows in Seattle and you're a skier -- get up to Stevens Pass or Snoqualamie ASAP.

The reason: If it's cold enough that the precip is snow at sea level, it's usually a rare chance to ski light powder up on the mountain. It can be a little bit of Utah in the PNW.

sgirlie

As others have indicated:

Snow is rare in Seattle.
When it does snow, the hoopla on tv will make you laugh 'till you cry.
It can shut the city down.

The thing to remember is that Seattle is a city of Hills. The snow doesn't necessarily stay around, but that thaw during the day turns to deadly ice overnight, literally stranding people who live on the hills until the ice melts. Last winter it snowed and iced up something fierce, and in walking the 5 blocks from my home in Queen Anne to my job by Seattle Center, I saw numerous cars spun out. Out of our office of 25 people, only 4 of us made it to work that day. Oh, and there are NO snow plows. Gotta wait till it melts for good.

Now...I grew up in Michigan...talk about snow...