A powerful storm is pressing into the Pacific Northwest from the Pacific, leading to a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms and even a chance of isolated tornadoes in places like Seattle and Portland.
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00:00In the northwest, there's a new developing zone of severe weather potential.
00:05And as we loop this here, you're going to see that we are facing some pretty good wind energy here.
00:10And there are little spokes of this here that are sliding northeast.
00:15And this is probably going to be developing into a band of more aggressive thunderstorms as things evolve.
00:22And overall, looking at the satellite loop, you can see this is a pretty powerful storm.
00:25Look at this giant pinwheel of low pressure off the coast.
00:29And it is a very dynamic storm system, strong low pressure.
00:33And this is going to come, again, a couple of lobes of energy are going to be lifting through the region.
00:38And the first and second to make their way through western Oregon and Washington
00:43will be bringing the risk of damaging wind, hail, and some flooding out there.
00:48But even the risk of an isolated tornado.
00:50So as we take a look at the big picture, with satellite and radar,
00:53there's been a little bit of lightning offshore so far.
00:56But this is going to be stepping up.
00:58And we're expecting to see eventually a severe thunderstorm
01:01or perhaps a tornado watch issued into the I-5 corridor.
01:05Temperatures range from around 57 in Seattle to a really warm 77 now in Portland and in Boise, Idaho.
01:12Very warm for early spring in these areas.
01:15Here's our risk area.
01:16Pretty rare that we have a moderate risk.
01:18Two out of four on the AccuWeather Threat Level Index for Seattle, Portland, Olympia,
01:22and in between here from this whole zone here up and down I-5
01:26in northwestern Oregon and western Washington state.
01:29Damaging wind and hail are the most likely risks here this evening
01:32and late this afternoon, too, and into the night.
01:35So we'll be watching as this kind of unfurls, sending these rounds of rain and thunderstorms.
01:40Tomorrow we turn colder, so the risk of severe weather drops off a bit.
01:44But there will be some snow that builds in.
01:45You can see a lot more blue at the end of the week here in the mountains.
01:49We're going to see a few inches of snow into some of the Oregon Cascades
01:52and perhaps some of the Washington Cascades as well Thursday and into Friday.
01:56So Thursday, a little more snow to the north in the high ground.
01:59Still snow levels relatively high, but they'll be coming down.
02:02And in the interior, we're dealing with very warm weather.
02:05Hot one in McCook, Nebraska, 85 there, Grand Junction, 81,
02:09and record-breaking warmth into Colorado Springs as well.
02:13And Friday, this is when we turn a little colder in the northwest.
02:16Alki, Washington, in the Seattle Metro, widespread rain Thursday,
02:20gradually turning brighter and drier,
02:22and the dew points drop, getting cooler at night into Saturday.