Winter Weather — Western Whatcom County, Washington

2021-12-21 · Western Whatcom County, Washington

Event narrative

Shortly before 5 PM PST, in the heart of the evening commute, freezing rain began to fall across portions of Western Whatcom County as cold surface air from Fraser Outflow began to filter in below slightly warmer, Pacific-influenced air aloft. State troopers responded to a fatality collision involving multiple vehicles along southbound I-5 at MP 263. Roadway was fully blocked for a period of time.

A report of around 0.05 inches of freezing rain was reported in Lynden the evening of Dec 21 with a surface temperature ranging from 28-30F.

Wider weather episode

A much cooler pattern began to setup over the Pacific Northwest towards the end of December. As Fraser Outflow began to push into Western Whatcom County, it created favorable conditions for freezing rain as cold surface air (several degrees below freezing) settled in with warmer air just above. Winds also became breezy out of the NE, but no major impacts were reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 998616. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.