On the second day of the Dec 20-21 weekend, a Pacific frontal system moved onshore, bringing more snow to much of western Washington.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
On the second day of the Dec 20-21 weekend, a Pacific frontal system moved onshore, bringing more snow to much of western Washington.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 9:59 AM PST, 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
959 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
.SYNOPSIS...A BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...RENEWING THE RISK OF ACCUMULATING SNOW. A
COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION TONIGHT AND MONDAY
KEEPING SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST. AFTER A BRIEF BREAK ANOTHER WEATHER
SYSTEM WILL BRUSH THE STATE LATER TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. SOMEWHAT
WARMER WEATHER IS EXPECTED BY THE END OF THE WEEK WITH A PAIR OF
WEATHER SYSTEMS REACHING THE AREA.
&&
.SHORT TERM...THE WORST IS OVER...BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY NOT OUT OF
THE WOODS YET IN TERMS OF SNOW. A SURFACE LOW WILL SINK SOUTHEAST
WELL OFF THE COAST TODAY AND TONIGHT...KEEPING COOL EAST AND THEN
NORTHEAST FLOW AT THE SURFACE LOCKED IN. IN ADDITION...A MID-LEVEL
LOW CENTER WILL DROP SOUTHEAST AND BE CENTERED DIRECTLY OVER WRN WA
TONIGHT. SATELLITE INDICATES COOLING CLOUDTOPS OFF THE COAST AND
SOME INCREASE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INCOMING BAND OF CLOUDS AND
PRECIPITATION. AS THE MID-LEVEL LOW COMES IN TODAY...TEMPERATURES
ALOFT WILL COOL...ENDING THE THREAT OF FREEZING PRECIPITATION WITHIN
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS BUT CONTINUING FROZEN PRECIP (IE. SNOW)
THROUGH TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE CLOUD PATTERN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY
WARRANTS CONCERN...AND THE 12Z MODEL RUNS INDICATE ABOUT 1/4 TO 1/2
INCH OF LIQUID EQUIVALENT PRECIP OVER THE INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. INDEED...A SPOTTER AT NEAH BAY JUST CALLED IN AND
REPORTED SNOW WITH 1/4 MILE VISIBILITY...AND THE KUIL METAR HAD
HEAVY RAIN FOR A TIME RECENTLY WITH 30-MINUTE RAINFALL OF 0.15. SO
PRECIP INTENSITIES ARE APPARENTLY THERE. WILL LIKELY KEEP THE WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY IN PLACES FOR MOST LOCALES BUT WILL FRESHEN THE
PRODUCT SHORTLY TO INDICATE 2-4 THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. MAY
HAVE TO UPGRADE TO A WARNING FOR THE WESTERN STRAIT AND KITSAP
PENINSULA...WHERE CONTINUATION OF EASTERLY SURFACE WINDS WOULD
ENHANCE PRECIP. COOLING TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL ALSO DESTABLIZE THE
ATMOSPHERE TONIGHT WITH THE 850-500 MB LAPSE RATE CLIMBING TO
6.5-7.5 C/KM. BY TONIGHT...CONVECTIVE SNOWFALL WOULD BE THE
RULE...WHICH WOULD HAVE THE AFFECT OF MAKING SNOWFALL TOTALS A LOT
MORE VARIABLE.
AS THE SURFACE LOW SINKS SOUTH...DRIER NORTHERLY FLOW SHOULD KICK IN
ON MONDAY. PRECIP SHOULD TAPER OFF WITH A DRY AFTERNOON EXCEPT FOR
THE MOUNTAINS AND MAYBE LEWIS COUNTY NEAR OUR SOUTHERN FORECASTING
BORDER.
AFTER TODAY AND TONIGHT...STILL LOOKING AT THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER SYSTEM ON WED. EVENT MAY START AND END AS SNOW OVER THE
INTERIOR WITH A DECENT WARM SECTOR AND SOME RAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE EVENT ON WED AFTN. HANER
.LONG TERM...FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE
EXTENDED MODELS THIS MORNING. EURO RUN SHOWS A WARM UP BACK TO CLOSE
TO NORMAL CONDITIONS WITH THE NEXT COUPLE OF SYSTEM TO MOVE THROUGH
THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND LATER FRIDAY. THE GFS AS BRINGS A WARMER
SYSTEM IN ON WEDNESDAY WITH ANOTHER SURFACE LOW MOVING TO THE SOUTH
OF THE AREA ON THURSDAY DRAWING COLD AIR BACK INTO THE REGION. GFS
IS A LITTLE SLOWER WITH THE SYSTEM FOR LATE IN THE WEEK BUT AT LEAST
AT THIS POINT THE PRECIPITATION TYPE EVEN ON THE GFS IS RAIN. WILL
SHOW A SLOW WARMING TREND AT THE END OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD BUT KEEP
SOME UNCERTAINTY ON THE PRECIPITATION TYPE EARLY ON. FELTON
&&
.AVIATION...THE INTERIOR IS IN A BREAK BETWEEN SYSTEMS AT 17Z. AN
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE A DEVELOPING INSTANT
OCCLUSION IS DEVELOPING ALONG THE COASTAL WATERS WHILE THE PARENT
VERTICALLY STACKED LOW MOVES SE TOWARD THE OREGON COAST MON MORNING.
PRES GRADIENTS HAVE REMAINED OFFSHORE AND TEMPERATURES IN THE
INTERIOR AND ALONG THE STRAIT ARE BELOW FREEZING. AS TEMPERATURES
COOL ALOFT WITH THE APPROACH OF THE INCOMING INSTANT
OCCLUSION...EXPECT INCOMING PRECIPITATION TO BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW
SHOWERS. AT THIS POINT IT APPEARS THAT TERMINALS IN THE INTERIOR
SOUTH OF KNUW WILL SEE 2-4 INCH SNOWFALL TOTALS AS THE OCCLUSION
MOVES SLOWLY THROUGH 20Z-05Z TIME FRAME. AREAS ALONG THE KITSAP
PENINSULA AND TO THE WEST OF PORT ANGELES WILL SEE 4-6 INCH AMOUNTS.
THE COAST WILL SEE MIXED SNOW AND RAIN SHOWERS WITH TEMPERATURES
SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING.
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING THRU 18Z MON WITH SLIGHTLY
ABOVE FREEZING TEMPERATURES MOST AREAS MON AFTERNOON.
IN HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING EXPECT CIGS TO
OCCASIONALLY DROP TO 005 WHILE VISIBILITIES DROP TO 1/2SM AT TIMES.
KSEA...SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY HAS MOVED ONTO THE KITSAP PENINSULA AND
WILL WORK EASTWARD TO THE TERMINAL ABOUT 1930Z. THEN EXPECT LIGHT
SNOW SHOWERS WITH OCCASIONAL HEAVY BURSTS TO 1/2SM SN FZFG VV005
THRU 04-05Z THIS EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL GRADUALLY DRY FROM THE
NORTH OVERNIGHT WITH LOWER CLOUDS AND OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS
DECREASING AFTER 18Z. 2-4 INCH SNOW TOTALS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING ARE LIKELY. THERE IS A 30 PERCENT PROBABILITY THAT AS THE
INCOMING OCCLUSION PIVOTS THAT HIGHER SNOW TOTALS ON THE ORDER OF 6
INCHES COULD OCCUR AND LAST LONGER INTO THE EVENING PER NAM12 MODEL
GUIDANCE. ALBRECHT.
&&
.MARINE...GRADIENTS HAVE DECREASED...BUT EXPECT ALL WATERS TO HAVE
OCCASIONAL E/SE WINDS TO 25 KT AT THE OFFSHORE LOW DROPS SE THRU THE
WATERS. A 12-15 FT WLY SWELL WILL KEEP HAZARDOUS SEAS ALONG THE
COAST LATER TONIGHT THRU MON.
AS THE SURFACE LOW DRIFTS ONTO THE OREGON COAST MIDDAY MON WIND WILL
TURN NLY AND SOME MODERATE FRASER OUTFLOW WILL START AGAIN OVER THE
NORTH INLAND WATERS.
A WEAK TROUGH WILL PASS THROUGH THE WATERS TUE AND WILL BE FOLLOWED
BY A STRONGER FRONT WED. ALBRECHT
&&
.AVALANCHE FROM THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...INCREASING STRONG
WINDS...MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW...AND A SLIGHT WARMING TREND ARE
EXPECTED TO BUILD NEW UNSTABLE LAYERS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY
MORNING. THESE LAYERS ARE LIKELY TO BE POORLY SUPPORTED BY EXISTING
UNDERLYING SNOW. AN AVALANCHE WARNING IS IN EFFECT SUNDAY. PLEASE
SEE WWW.NWAC.US FOR DETAILS. FERBER
&&
WA...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HOOD CANAL AND THE WESTERN STRAIT.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ALL REMAINING ZONES EXCEPT THE COAST.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ALL WATERS EXCEPT PUGET SOUND AND
HOOD CANAL.
.SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
&&
WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
FOR THE ENHANCED AFD PLEASE VISIT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATESTWEBAFD.HTML (ALL LOWERCASE)PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
828 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0749 AM BLIZZARD 5 WNW SEKIU 48.29N 124.41W
12/21/2008 PZZ130 WA TRAINED SPOTTER
12 INCHES SNOW OVERNIGHT. E WIND 40 MPH GUSTING TO 55 MPH
DRIFTED SNOW TO 4-5 FEET. CURRENTLY SNOWING AND 32.
&&
ALBRECHTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
831 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0749 AM SNOW 2 S MILL CREEK 47.83N 122.21W
12/21/2008 M4.7 INCH SNOHOMISH WA NWS EMPLOYEE
4.7 INCHES NEW SNOW WITH 8 INCHES ON THE GROUND.
&&
ALBRECHTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
852 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0749 AM SNOW 1 E HITE CENTER 47.60N 122.83W
12/21/2008 M5.6 INCH KITSAP WA TRAINED SPOTTER
5.6 SNOW OVERNIGHT. SNOWING HEAVILY AT THIS TIME.
&&
ALBRECHTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
916 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0859 AM SNOW 3 WSW PORT TOWNSEND 48.10N 122.84W
12/21/2008 M5.2 INCH JEFFERSON WA TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
GRUBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
917 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0749 AM BLIZZARD 3 WNW SEKIU 48.28N 124.37W
12/21/2008 CLALLAM WA TRAINED SPOTTER
10 INCHES OF SNOW OVERNIGHT DRIFTED TO 3 FEET IN PLACES
BY 40-70 MPH WINDS. NOW SNOWING HEAVILY WITH 1/4 MILE
VISIBILITY THOUGH WINDS ARE SE 5 AT THIS TIME.
&&
ALBRECHTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
942 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0940 AM SNOW 2 WNW ANACORTES 48.50N 122.66W
12/21/2008 M2.0 INCH SKAGIT WA TRAINED SPOTTER
TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ON GROUND. WIND PROBABLY BLEW
MORE AWAY.
0940 AM SNOW 2 NNE PUYALLUP 47.21N 122.26W
12/21/2008 M3.5 INCH PIERCE WA TRAINED SPOTTER
1/4 INCH OF ICE COATING THE SNOW.
&&
GRUB9 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow of 3-6 inches fell. About 2000 people lost power in Kitsap county.
Heavy snow of 2-7 inches fell.
Heavy snow of 5-8 inches fell. A large wooden barn, near Clear Lake, collapsed, injuring several cows. There were about 1200 scattered power outages throughout Skagit County.
Heavy snow of 3-4 inches fell. In Marysville, the roof of Whitley Evergreen collapsed and part of the 200 by 600 foot modular building assembly plant came down.
Heavy snow of 4 inches fell. Although two of the three runways at Sea-Tac Airport were open, many flights were canceled primarily due to the lack of de-icer, stranding thousands of passengers. Greyhound buses and Amtrak train service were also disrupted. City bus service was running, but at a less than 50% operational levels.
Heavy snow of 3-5 inches fell. A man was hit by another vehicle while removing the chains from his tires.
Heavy snow of 4-12 inches fell. In Bellevue, a large tent weighted by heavy snow, collapsed at a temporary ice rink, briefly trapping a few people. One girl had minor injuries.
Heavy snow of 2-6 inches fell.
Heavy snow of 2-5 inches fell. About 400 customers in Clallam county lost power.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 141130, 141122, 141123, 141124, 141125, 141126, 141127, 141128, 141129.