Snow falls in Seattle, Portland during rare cold snap

UPDATED: Sun., Dec. 26, 2021

A worker shovels snow from the stadium field before an NFL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Seattle. Snow blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday because of unusually cold temperatures in the region. Between 3 and 5 inches of snow fell in Seattle overnight and frigid temperatures in the region could tie or break records in the coming days. (Stephen Brashear)

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Snow fueled by unusually cold weather blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, slowing travel but also providing a rare chance to sled and ski in the Seattle area.

Between 3 and 5 inches of snow fell in Seattle overnight Sunday. Observers in Port Angeles, across the Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula, reported about 11 inches of snow.

Another 2 to 5 inches of snow were expected to fall in parts of northwest and west central Washington during the day, but the heaviest snow had moved out of the Seattle area by the afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

One robin heads in to join others in an apple tree as they huddle against a winder storm, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Bellingham, Wash. Snow blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday because of unusually cold temperatures in the region. Between 3 and 5 inches of snow fell in Seattle overnight and frigid temperatures in the region could tie or break records in the coming days.Elaine Thompson/AP

Portland received a dusting of snow from the storm, but the city was expected to get another 2.5 inches by Monday morning, according to the weather service.

“It’s cold enough for snow and there’s enough moisture around, so we have enough snow to see snowfall across the area,” National Weather Service Seattle meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch told the Seattle Times.

Flights out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were delayed by an average of about an hour around midday, as planes were de-iced and the runways plowed, the airport said.

Near Grants Pass, Oregon, cars and trucks lined up near a checkpoint on northbound Interstate 5 as officials inspected trucks to see if they had chains to increase their traction on the snow. Trucks that did not have chains were not allowed to continue, the Daily Courier reported.

Cars and trucks line up on northbound Interstate 5 north of Grants Pass, Ore., while waiting at an Oregon Department of Transportation checkpoint enforcing chain requirements Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. Semi-trucks that did not have chains installed were being turned around and not allowed to proceed past the Hugo, Ore., interchange. 

(Scott Stoddard/Grants Pass Daily Courier via AP)Scott Stoddard/AP

While plows worked to keep highways open, the Washington State Department of Transportation urged people to stay off the roads if possible, warning that roads will stay icy and snowy even after the snow stops because of the cold weather.

Frigid temperatures in the region could tie or break records in the coming days.

The Seattle area is expected to dip as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest in several years. Coeur d’Alene will drop to 5 below by Wednesday.

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