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Round 2 of a polar onslaught is preparing to hit the North Olympic Peninsula tonight, with six inches or more of snow forecast in lowland areas by tomorrow night.
Here is the latest National Weather Service forecast for areas along the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
Tonight: A 40 percent chance of snow after 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 26. West southwest wind between 6 and 14 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Wednesday: Snow. High near 34. West wind around 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Wednesday Night: Snow likely, mainly before 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 21. Blustery, with a north wind 11 to 14 mph increasing to between 22 and 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday’s forecasts of rain possible in Port Angeles and the West End were changed as weather forecast grids showed temperatures around freezing, rather than pushing toward 40 degrees.
The Olympics will get more snow measured in feet, forecasters said.
And once Wednesday’s storm passes, the mercury will drop back to the low and mid-20s in advance of another storm this weekend.
The chill could continue into Christmas Day, according to forecasting models used by the Weather Service in Seattle.
The newest storm follows the polar onslaught from the Yukon that blew down British Columbia’s Fraser River Valley right onto the Olympic Peninsula on Sunday and Monday.
A combination of high winds and a high tide caused three boats to drift ashore in Port Angeles Harbor, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Branning said Monday.
A 39-foot power boat washed ashore near the site of the former Rayonier pulp mill at the foot of Ennis Street. The Coast Guard assisted a man getting from the boat to shore.
“He was just really concerned about how cold it was getting,” Branning said.
“The water was only about ankle deep, but he was concerned so we took a vehicle down there to assist him.”
Branning declined to release the name of the man.
Two other boats
No one was aboard either of the other boats, Branning said. He did not know the owners or the names of the stricken vessels.
One was a 36-foot power boat that was no longer registered and had no name. It washed ashore near the foot of Oak Street.
The other, a sailboat, washed ashore near the Red Lion Hotel, Branning said. He said he was unsure of the size of the sailboat.
Branning said the Coast Guard saw the same sailboat anchored a couple days ago.
“It was blowing around in high seas,” he said.
A high tide combined with an east wind that churned up the westerly protected Port Angeles Harbor is believed to have caused the boats to drift, Branning said.
“Really we are concerned about the safety of human life, and then if there is any environmental danger,” he said.
“In this case neither was an issue, so we aren’t really concerned with it.”
It is up to the owners of the beached boats to make arrangements to move them, Branning said.
Power outages on West End
Meanwhile, 115 customers in the Sol Duc area were without power for about four hours Monday when high winds blew a tree into a transmission line, said David Proebstel, Clallam County Public Utility District chief engineer.
The outage was reported at 12:05 p.m. The PUD restored power before 4 p.m., Proebstel said.
A power outage — also caused by a fallen tree — occurred Monday morning along Hoko-Ozette Road.
About 12 customers were affected, and power was restored before 4 p.m.
Aside from a few scattered outages in Port Angeles and Sequim, things were relatively quiet Monday in the PUD’s service territory, Proebstel said.
No power outages were reported in Jefferson County on Sunday or Monday, said Nina Huang, spokeswoman for Puget Sound Energy, which provides electricity to most of East Jefferson County.
Huang said the dry, lighter snow is less likely to break limbs off trees and cause power outages.
Buses OK
For bus riders, the weather had little impact on routes and schedules on Monday.
Clallam Transit dispatcher Joe Sutton said road crews did a good job clearing the routes, and few lines were affected by the weather.
“We did real well,” Sutton said.
Jefferson Transit spokeswoman Carol Headley was unaware of any weather-related incidents.
“There have been no issues since I’ve been on shift, since 10:30 this morning,” Headley said.
“Nothing has been noted today.”
Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said the park experienced no significant damage in the storm.
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Reporters Rob Ollikainen and Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at news@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Rex Wilson contributed to this report.
