Wintry weather returns. Here’s when to expect lowland snow in Whatcom County

UPDATE: Heavy snowfall expected in Whatcom lowlands as alert is issued.

Bellingham and parts of lowland Whatcom County saw a sprinkling of snow-like graupel, and more wintry weather is on the way as arctic air settles across Northwest Washington for what could be an extended stay.

Daytime high temperatures will struggle to reach 40 degrees and overnight lows will dip into the 20s for the next week, far below the seasonal high of 48 and low of 36.

Lowland snow is not out of the question, along with periods of rain and snow, according to National Weather Service in Seattle.

Northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph, gusting to about 45 mph, were forecast for parts of western Whatcom County as a Fraser Outflow phenomenon was expected to develop Monday night.

Scattered power outages were possible, the National Weather Service said in issuing a wind advisory.

Power was out early Monday afternoon for about 770 Puget Sound Energy customers on the northwest side of Bellingham, including Bellingham Technical College.

At its website, PSE said the outage was “under investigation” at 12:40 p.m.

Winds were blowing from the northeast at a steady 25 mph, gusting to 32 mph, at 12:40 p.m., according to readings from Bellingham International Airport.

Some streets and sidewalks were slick with ice and frozen graupel Monday morning, Nov. 28, in downtown Bellingham and surrounding neighborhoods, according to Bellingham Herald observations.

Graupel, a kind of soft hail, coated several areas of Whatcom County in a crunchy blanket of white Monday morning.

Overnight shelters opened in Ferndale and Bellingham, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.

Many drivers were using caution during the morning commute, but several crashes were reported around Whatcom County, according to the emergency services app Pulse Point.

In Bellingham, Public Works Department crews were taking steps to make streets less slippery as snow and several days of below-normal temperatures loom in the forecast, said Marty Gray, superintendent of maintenance.

“The night crew has been putting down salt brine as of (Sunday night, Nov. 27),” Gray told The Bellingham Herald in a text message.

“The same crew will be out at about 11 p.m. (Monday) and adding additional brine to some of our traditional hot spots for ice and freezing. These are usually areas that are in the shade all day, bridge decks, and other areas that have natural drainage that may cause ice on the roadways,” Gray said.

“(Monday) we are starting to spread some rock salt in the downtown area in preparation of possible incoming winter weather,” he said.

Dev McMillian, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle, said lowland snow was possible several days this week.

“With cooler air in place, especially if the current timing holds true, expect to see some light snow to fall” on Tuesday, Nov. 29, McMillian said in the online forecast discussion Monday, Nov. 28.

“Snow levels are then expected to drop back down below 1,000 feet by Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 30). With colder air filtering in Wednesday, the threat of accumulating lowland snow increases and will remain, he said.

About 1 to 2 inches of snow was possible around Bellingham through Wednesday.