Rain, snow and falling temperatures to kick off the holiday week across the Northwest

By Brandon Buckingham, AccuWeather Meteorologist

Updated Nov. 24, 2019 2:53 PM

Multiple storm systems are slated to impact the United States through the Thanksgiving holiday week, bringing major travel headaches for millions of Americans.

The Northwest will be the first region across the western United States to deal with adverse weather this week.

A storm system sliding into the Pacific Northwest Sunday will bring rain, snow and rough surf through Monday.

As the storm comes ashore and cold air follows, snow is expected to fall below 4,000 feet across much of Washington and northern Oregon.

This means snow will fall below many of the pass levels, including Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass, leading to travel issues through at least midweek.

Snow will spread across the interior Northwest through Monday as the storm system continues to track inland.

While places like the Columbia Basin and the Snake River Valley may stay largely dry early in the week, most other areas will have wet weather as the system comes ashore.

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As the week progresses, the storm system will slide southwest through the Northwest.

Gusty Diablo winds will develop across Northern California on Monday, leading to a brief period of high fire danger.

But wet weather across much of the West this week should eventually be enough to bring an end to the 2019 fire season.

The storm system will continue on a track towards the Midwest into midweek, bringing accumulating snow and a reinforcing shot of cold air to millions.

There will be little time to recover from the cold across the Northwest as another powerful storm system will track into the West Coast on Tuesday, bringing more disruptions to travel.

Most of the wet weather will remain along the Oregon coast and areas farther south, but this storm system will continue to keep below-average temperatures in place across the region into Thanksgiving.

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