Update, 4 p.m.: Local snow level dropped to 400 feet Thursday and Thursday night.
The wind is just starting to pick up (2 p.m.) and the “closed” signs are deployed and ready for use.
Will we get snow as soon as this afternoon?
According to a National Weather Service advisory issued within the hour for Seattle:
SHOWERS WILL LOCALLY DRAG SNOW LEVELS TO THE SURFACE IN THE LOWLANDS THROUGH THURSDAY.
It is in fact snowing down to sea level in Hoquaim and Aberdeen.
The current forecast here calls for rain showers this afternoon, possibly with thunderstorms, with a snow level of 700 feet.
Thursday currently looks like snow showers before 10 a.m., turning to all snow by late Thursday night into Friday. Actually, computer models are a bit confused about all this, but by Thursday night the forecast discussion calls for snow levels around 500 feet, with accumulations of less than an inch.
That “500-foot level” is important, because that’s Maple Leaf.
The elevation of Maple Leaf is 466 feet above sea level, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation. We’re the third-highest hill in Seattle.