WeatherWatcher: Current Weather Explained, Forecast: Will it Snow? Not really.

 

Total snow amount forecast by 5am PDT Wednesday
Graphic by the National Weather Service

The big story right now is the wet snowflakes mixed in with rain showers in the area. There's been some spots of hail too reported in the Richmond Beach neighborhood today (Monday). All this seemingly crazy weather is the result of an active Puget Sound Convergence zone that has set up shop and been intermittently moving between Everett and Seattle Sunday and Monday.

Believe it or not, but March and April are prime time seasonally for Puget Sound Convergence zone events. This is typically the time of year when cold air from the Arctic pours out over the Gulf of Alaska and moves in from the west or northwest into Western Washington. This air gets modified by the relatively warm Pacific Ocean and becomes unstable. This creates our spotty cool shower activity and when the angle of the westerly wind is just right, forms a convergence zone.

Hillwood neighborhood snowfall on Monday afternoon
Photo by Pam Cross

Today (Monday, March 9, 2026) was no different, with an active but dissipating and recurring convergence zone developed between around Everett to Northgate Seattle area. The air near the surface has been warmed by the ocean and stronger sun of late winter but remains very cold aloft. Heavier precipitation causes that colder air aloft to move down closer to the surface, which is why we start to see a wintery mix with the heavier rain showers.

Forecast: Monday night and Tuesday morning the convergence zone activity is expected to intermittently continue. With the warmth of the sun gone overnight, some of those showers will likely mix with snow, or could become all snow at times. These showers are short lived in nature and any accumulation that does happen will likely be limited to exposed grassy surfaces. It's not expected to get cold enough for roads to freeze and accumulate any snow. No accumulations in general are expected.

Tuesday afternoon and evening a more organized rainmaker approaches, and some of that rain may start as snow, or rain and snow mixed, before we warm up into the mid 40's. Rain is expected to continue Wednesday morning and afternoon. Winds are expected to pick up on Wednesday as well, with some stronger gusts possible toward the evening hours of 30-40mph.

Rain continues at times Thursday morning and afternoon, then more chilly air sinks back into the region and brings more threats of rain and snow-mixed precipitation in the overnight hours for Thursday night, Friday morning, again Friday night and Saturday morning. More rain/snow mix precipitation is possible once again Saturday night and Sunday morning before longer range forecasts suggest we warm back up.

Bottom line: For Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, these kinds of rain/snow mixed showers are common in March and April, but it is rare for them to produce any significant accumulation. We might see a quick half inch here and there in heavy showers but it'll melt off rapidly, especially if the sun comes out.

For current weather conditions please visit www.shorelineweather.com