Weekend forecast projects rain, snow across Washington + winter storm looms over the Cascades

KENNEWICK, Wash. — Residents of the Tri-Cities/Yakima region should prepare for a mixed bag of precipitation this weekend as winter weather threatens to dump snow onto Washington mountains including Snoqualmie Pass through Sunday.

Anticipate some light-to-moderate snow in Yakima and Ellensburg overnight heading into the weekend. That snowfall is expected to move into the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla areas through the night.

A Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for the Western Slopes of the Northern Cascades starting at 10:00 p.m. on Friday evening. Weather experts predict somewhere between 10 and 28 inches of snow to fall at an elevation of 3,500 feet and higher.

The Winter Storm Warning is expected to last until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Anyone planning to commute through Snoqualmie Pass in either direction over the weekend is heavily advised to keep up with traffic alerts from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Snoqualmie Pass Twitter account.

READ: It’s time for Washington drivers to bring out the chains, State Patrol says

Meanwhile, a Winter Weather Advisory will go into effect on the Eastern Slopes of the Cascades at 2:00 a.m. on Dec. 18 and will last until 10:00 a.m. on Dec. 19. Freezing rain is a serious possibility with 5-to-10 inches of precipitation anticipated into Sunday morning.

A wind advisory is already set for the foothills of the Blue Mountains with winds anticipated between 25-to-35 miles per hour. At their peak, gusts may reach 55 miles per hour between 4 a.m Saturday to 7 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Prepare for Saturday night’s rain to persist into Sunday afternoon across the Mid-Columbia and the Blues. The weekend weather will likely be capped off with light snow on Sunday evening into Monday morning.

RECENT HEADLINES FROM THE KAPP KVEW NEWS STAFF:

• Kennewick resident has been missing from home for nearly 2 months
• Obstruction on I-182 spells trouble for 13 drivers on the Columbia River bridge
• Southeastern Washington schools & police hold firm against violent TikTok threats
• Pasco driver veered into head-on crash with semi + gun & drugs recovered from crash site
• ‘Everything is gone:’ Richland restaurant owner seeks community’s help to rebuild after housefire

READ: Selah family found dead, young girl hospitalized in suspected carbon monoxide poisoning