Snow Day Predictor for Washington

Browse snow day predictions for all 100 cities in Washington. Select your city to check tomorrow's school closure forecast.

Every city below links to its own live snow day forecast for Washington. Find your city in the alphabetical list and click it to check today's snowfall probability and school closure forecast.

About Washington

Washington doesn't have one winter, it has two. The Cascade Range splits the state, and snow-day odds follow from which side of that line a school sits on. West of the mountains, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia hug Puget Sound under a maritime climate that keeps winters mild and wet. East of the divide, Spokane and the Columbia Basin answer to a continental climate that behaves like Montana's. That divide gets literal at the passes. Snoqualmie, at over 3,000 feet, carries I-90's freight and commuter traffic and closes routinely for avalanche control. Stevens Pass on US 2 averages roughly 450 inches of snow a year, and White Pass on US 12 isn't far behind. Commuters east of the mountains plan winters around chain requirements and pass reports, the way Seattle plans around a single dusting. Snow days here have little to do with snow totals and everything to do with hills. Seattle owns no dedicated snowplow fleet, according to its own emergency management office, and steep streets on Queen Anne or Beacon Hill turn two inches into gridlock. Spokane, by contrast, runs full-city plow operations covering thousands of lane miles each winter. Same state, wildly different threshold for closing.

Washington Snow Day Climate and School Closures

How Washington's Climate Affects Snow Days

Western Washington runs maritime and mild: Seattle averages just 6.3 inches of snow a year, with rain far likelier than flakes below 1,000 feet. East of the Cascades, Spokane averages 45.4 inches under a continental climate with real cold snaps. Mountain passes between the two get buried, often over 400 inches annually at higher elevations.

In January 1950, Seattle's 'Big Snow' dropped 21.4 inches in a single day with winds of 25 to 40 mph, killing an estimated 13 people around Puget Sound, per Seattle's Office of Emergency Management. (Seattle Office of Emergency Management (Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Analysis — Snow, Ice & Extreme Cold))

What Causes School Closures in Washington

Terrain, not temperature, decides most closures in western Washington. Seattle has no dedicated snowplow fleet, per its own emergency management office, and steep hills become impassable ice sheets after a couple inches. East of the Cascades, Spokane treats snow as routine and stays open through far heavier totals, thanks to real winter equipment and infrastructure.

Explore Snow Day Predictions Across Washington

Washington has 100 cities covered by the Snow Day Predictor. Predictions are updated hourly using real-time weather data from Open-Meteo.

Popular Cities to Check in Washington

Seattle. Seattle averages just 6.3 inches of snow a year, yet the city runs no dedicated snowplow fleet — crews retrofit trucks when storms threaten, per its emergency management hazard assessment, so hills shut down fast.

Spokane. Spokane averages 45.4 inches of snow annually and treats it as routine: in the 2022-2023 season, city crews completed four full-city plow operations covering more than 12,000 lane miles, per Spokane's own street department.

Tacoma. Tacoma hit a record low of 10 degrees Fahrenheit on December 20, 2008, during a two-week Puget Sound storm cycle that also brought roof collapses and stranded holiday travelers statewide, per HistoryLink's Washington history archive.

Bellevue. Bellevue has the greatest elevation range of any suburban city in the region, from lake level to 1,380 feet, and some of the steepest streets, according to the city's own winter weather planning documents.

Yakima. Yakima averages 20.3 inches of snow a year, but the valley's real winter hazard is persistent freezing fog and temperature inversions that trap cold air and coat roads with black ice for days.

Wenatchee. Wenatchee set an all-time single-day snowfall record of 24 inches on January 6, 2022, according to the National Weather Service office in Spokane, burying the self-proclaimed Apple Capital of the World in hours.

A 4

Aberdeen Anacortes Arlington Auburn

B 9

Bainbridge Island Battle Ground Bellevue Bellingham Bonney Lake Bothell Bremerton Burien Burlington

C 7

Camano Camas Centralia Cheney Clarkston Cle Elum Covington

D 2

Des Moines DuPont

E 7

East Wenatchee Edgewood Edmonds Ellensburg Enumclaw Ephrata Everett

F 2

Federal Way Ferndale

G 3

Gig Harbor Graham Grandview

I 1

Issaquah

K 5

Kelso Kenmore Kennewick Kent Kirkland

L 8

Lacey Lake Forest Park Lake Stevens Lakewood Liberty Lake Longview Lynden Lynnwood

M 9

Maple Valley Marysville Mercer Island Mill Creek Monroe Moses Lake Mount Vernon Mountlake Terrace Mukilteo

N 1

Newcastle

O 4

Oak Harbor Olympia Orchards Othello

P 7

Pasco Port Angeles Port Orchard Port Townsend Poulsbo Pullman Puyallup

R 3

Redmond Renton Richland

S 14

Sammamish SeaTac Seattle Sedro-Woolley Sequim Shelton Shoreline Silverdale Snohomish Snoqualmie South Hill Spokane Spokane Valley Sunnyside

T 4

Tacoma Toppenish Tukwila Tumwater

U 2

Union Gap University Place

V 1

Vancouver

W 5

Walla Walla Washougal Wenatchee West Richland Woodinville

Y 2

Yakima Yelm

Frequently Asked Questions About Snow Days in Washington

Why does Seattle close schools for just an inch or two of snow while Spokane stays open?

−

It comes down to infrastructure, not toughness. Seattle's Office of Emergency Management says the city has no dedicated snowplow fleet, and its hilly streets turn icy fast. Spokane, sitting in a true continental climate, runs a fleet built for real winter — four full-city plow passes covering 12,000-plus lane miles in a typical season — so a few inches barely register there.

How much snow does Seattle actually get in a normal winter?

Not much, by national standards. Sea-Tac Airport averages roughly 6.3 inches of snow across an entire winter, spread over fewer than five snow days a year. Most years bring one or two brief events rather than a sustained snowpack, which is exactly why the city has never built out plowing capacity the way snowier states routinely do.

What makes the mountain passes so dangerous in winter?

Elevation and traffic volume together. Snoqualmie Pass sits at roughly 3,000 feet and carries heavy daily traffic on I-90, so even routine snow triggers avalanche-control closures and chain requirements. Stevens Pass on US 2 climbs past 4,000 feet and averages well over 400 inches of snow a year, making winter driving there a completely different skill than driving in Seattle.

Has Washington ever had a truly deadly winter storm?

Yes. The 'Big Snow' of January 1950 remains one of the most severe in Seattle's recorded history: 21.4 inches fell in a single day with winds gusting 25 to 40 mph, and the storm was tied to an estimated 13 deaths around Puget Sound, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management. It's the benchmark local forecasters still measure other storms against.

Is eastern Washington's winter really that different from Seattle's?

Completely. Spokane sits in a continental climate zone, averaging 45.4 inches of snow a year, roughly seven times Seattle's total, plus real cold snaps well below freezing. Locals there own snow tires, snow blowers, and realistic expectations. Kids in Spokane routinely go to school through snow that would shut down half of King County without a second thought.

What's the single best resource for checking road conditions before a winter trip across the state?

WSDOT's real-time travel page is the one to bookmark. It tracks statewide highway conditions plus live status on Snoqualmie, Stevens, and White Pass, including chain requirements and closures. Pair it with the relevant National Weather Service office — Seattle for the west side, Spokane or Pendleton for the east — for the forecast behind the road report.