First Snow of 2025
Snow is expected this weekend, with mixed rain/snow on Saturday in downtown Seattle. Pure snow showers start early Sunday morning through Monday night, with a possible accumulation of less than half an inch every 12 hours. Tuesday through Thursday have a chance of snow showers. Lynnwood is similar. Boeing Field may get an inch Saturday evening. There's a lot of uncertainty about how much snow there will be in the lowlands.
The National Weather Service has forecasts for each city. In each one there's a Forecast Discussion" link in the bottom left section with a long explanation. These are usually easy to read, although the one Friday evening is cryptic. Cliff Masss weather blog has a detailed play-by-play and model images of the next few days. The Seattle Times ($) and King 5 have coverage.
MetroKing County Metro has a winter guide, a snow routes page, and the Emergency Snow Network (ESN) map. Note that Metro has three levels of service depending on the severity: regular service, snow routes, and the ESN. Some routes may be on snow routes while others are on regular service.
This is the first winter since RapidRide G launched, so let's take a look at what First Hill would be like if Metro switches to snow routes. The G will not run during snow. Instead Route 90, the First Hill Snow Shuttle, will be activated. If conditions get severe and Metro switches to the ESN, the only east-west routes on First Hill and Capitol Hill will be the 3, 10, and 90. North-south service will continue to be provided by the 60 and 48.
Other AgenciesSound Transit winter page. Link and Sounder will run on regular schedule. (EDIT: Link has a planned weekend reduction, see the first comment.) ST Express routes may switch to snow routes at any time, or special routing and stop closures if necessary. Sound Transit recommends signing up for alerts on the routes you use to get the latest information.
Community Transit snow service. CT's snow route maps simply mark orange segments the route will not serve"; it doesn't specify the alternate path. Swift Blue has orange at both ends: from Shoreline North Station to Aurora Village, and from Everett Station to Colby/Wetmore. Swift Orange will not serve the Alderwood Mall area or Dumas Road. Other routes have similar orange segments. Again, sign up for alerts for the routes you care about.
Pierce Transit extreme weather. PT has a handy snow brochure with maps of the snow detours for all affected routes in one place.
Photo and Route 90 map credit: Metro.