Lowland snow and record-high temps: The numbers behind a wild first day of winter

Winter kicked off with a wild start in Western Washington!

On Monday, we saw a record-high of 59 degrees at Sea-Tac Airport and a record 1.64 inches of rain. It was followed by a dusting of snow! It's only the fifth time in recorded history that Sea-Tac got snow on the same day the high temperature was above 50 degrees, according to Joe Zagrodnik with WSU AgWeatherNet.

Some areas in the lowlands saw up to 3 inches of snowfall

Heavy snowfall in Enumclaw (Monday, Dec. 21, 2020)

The National Weather Service reported a record high of 56 degrees at its North Seattle office with a record 2.19 inches of rain. Bellingham also set a record for daily rainfall with 1.82 inches. 

Several areas reported street flooding and road closures

DOWNLOAD THE Q13 WEATHER APP FOR LIVE INTERACTIVE RADAR AND WEATHER ALERTS. 

Snoqualmie Pass, meanwhile, got 11 inches of snow over a 9-hour period Monday night, bringing this season's snowfall total to 122 inches. That's one-third of the average amount of snow Snoqualmie gets all season and about 20 inches more than usual at this point in the year. 

Fortunately, the overactive Western Washington weather was short-lived. 

We're drying out and should stay dry and sunny through Thursday night. It will be chillier than it has been, with highs in the more seasonal mid-40s.