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If you’re looking for a quick warm-up this week, it’s not going to happen.

The coldest air mass of the winter season arrived over the weekend and is expected to continue throughout the week.

The driving force behind this chilly weather is upper-level low pressure centered over northern Vancouver Island. Over the weekend, it circulated cold, unsettled air into Western Washington, producing spotty rain and snow showers. Many locations saw at least snowflakes in the air, while more favored places had some light accumulations.

The cold will last through the week

This weather pattern is anticipated to continue through this week. The low pressure aloft is expected to drift to the southwest and spin more hit-and-miss showers onshore.

As the system drifts offshore, the weekend southerly breezes across the Western Washington lowlands that limited snow accumulations are anticipated to ease, permitting colder air from the interior for Western Canada to flow south out of the Fraser River canyon just north of Bellingham Monday.

This colder air is expected to filter southward into Puget Sound and toward the Pacific Ocean, leaving temperatures well below average for early February. Most high temperatures will rise only into the mid and upper 30s with lows dipping into the 20s. Snow levels are anticipated to remain quite low, rising to perhaps only a few hundred feet each afternoon.

Snow will be spotty

Any snow accumulations this week will likely be spotty and generally light, perhaps an inch or two at most.

With ongoing spotty rain and snow showers, the daytime/nighttime rollercoaster temperatures will likely produce icy roadways during overnight and morning hours. Motorists will need to take it easy during each morning commute this week.

The extended weather outlook into the coming weekend and next week maintains the cooler than average conditions. The threat of more light amounts of lowland snow will likely remain. At least the mountains will continue to have the opportunity to receive more snowfall to help make up for the snow deficit that developed during the dry period in January.

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Looking back at January, it certainly was a dry, cool month. The overall average temperature at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was only 39.1 degrees – 3.7 degrees below average. Olympia’s overall average temperature last month was just 37.5 degrees, just over 2 degrees below average. Bellingham’s average monthly temperature was 36.7 degrees – 3 and a half below average.

January was a dry month

Last month was also quite dry. SEA had just under 2 inches of rain, 33 percent of average, becoming the 4^th driest January on record. Olympia also finished the month with just over two and a half inches of rain, also the 4^th driest on record.

The first 5 p.m. sunset occurred over a week ago for those enjoying the longer days. On the other end of each day is sunrise. The first 7:30 a.m. sunrise of the year will be on Wednesday, February 5^th. That day will also mark the growing rate of daylight hours, which will top 3 minutes per day.

Punxsutawney Phil indicates long winter ahead

On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter in that region. Based upon the latest weather outlook for the rest of this month, Phil’s folklore weather forecast just may apply to Western Washington this time.

Ted Buehner is the ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on .Ìý

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