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Freezing Rain Poised to Glaze Parts of Puget Sound on Tuesday

[WBHG News 24 – Kirkland, WA] – Seattle temperatures rose above freezing for the first time in 89 hours on Monday, but a sloppy weather system is poised to bring snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the Puget Sound lowlands on Tuesday night.

During the evening commute, precipitation will arrive in Puget Sound, rapidly spreading. From Tacoma north, expect snow and sleet before a transition to freezing rain and rain.

Focusing on our forecast area of eastern Puget Sound – Kirkland, Bellevue, Bothell, Kenmore, Redmond, and Woodinville – snow will be falling across the entire region by 7 PM. Up to 1/2 an inch of wet accumulation is possible before the transition begins. Higher hills and along the King-Snohomish County line may see a little more.

Between 8 PM and 10 PM on Tuesday, the snow and sleet will transition to freezing rain and rain. Up to 1/10 of an inch of accumulation is possible on the east side of central Puget Sound, but there is a lot of disagreement in the forecast models. We’re forecasting a transition between 1 AM and 3 AM on Wednesday morning, but keeping an eye on the situation.

The center of Seattle will have a mostly rain event, with the line between rain and a period of freezing rain roughly in the middle of Lake Washington. Kenmore and Northgate will also be in the area of freezing rain. If you’re driving east from Seattle on I-90, you may enter the tunnel on Mercer Island with it raining and exit the other side into freezing rain!

The Euro, which is the best model for predicting winter weather in our area is forecasting a transition between 5 AM and 7 AM. If this model is correct, the Wednesday morning commute will be even more challenging.

You should put off any travel on Tuesday after the evening commute, especially during the overnight hours. Low traffic and convective cooling will accelerate ice build-up on ramps, bridges, and side roads. If you have to drive, give yourself plenty of extra time, route around hills, leave extra room between you and other vehicles, and plan ahead as you approach traffic lights and stop signs.

BIPOC, Local

Juanita High School senior wins award for her service to the homeless

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) Angelyiah Lim is graduating from Juanita High School next month, a future University of Washington Husky, and the 2020 recipient of the Lee Johnson Community Service Award presented by the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce. Since 2003, the Lee Johnson Community Service Award has been given to a Lake Washington School District high school student who has provided outstanding service to the eastside. Winners of the award receive a scholarship and a donation to a local non-profit, which this year went to the Lake Washington School Foundation.

Last year Lim, along with classmates Fiona Wang and Aleksandra Cholewinska started an organization called Awareness for Homelessness. What started as a clothing drive in the age of COVID blossomed into over $11,000 in received donations, and the distribution of over a thousand sanitary kits to homeless shelters and organizations serving the eastside and Seattle.

“We donated to 11 different homeless shelters, including pet shelters and orphanages,” explained Lim. “We had a clothing drive last year and one this year that our trainees for the next board also did. And we’ve raised over 1500 clothing items.”

The students training to take the reigns next year collected more than 800 articles of clothing in April that were distributed to Tent City 3 in Seattle and Tent City 4 in Bellevue. “In Seattle, we have the third-largest homeless population in terms of cities in the United States. That also extends to the eastside,” Lim continued. “There are a lot of people experiencing homelessness in this area. We might not see it all the time. There are many different definitions of homelessness and it does not just mean that you’re living on the streets.”

Awareness for Homelessness recently released a children’s book, to open up the discussion about the unhomed, and to raise awareness to a younger audience. The book, “Lending a Hand,” is being provided free by the organization.

Brett Johnson of Lee Johnson Auto Home Auto Group expressed pride in Lim’s accomplishments. “When the Kirkland Chamber created this award in our dad’s name, it was extremely important to our family that each year a Kirkland High School student that was selected was involved in extracurricular activities, and did their best to help their community. Without a doubt, [Angelyiah] has shown to be an outstanding recipient for this year.”

Lim will be attending the University of Washington in the fall, she said, “I recently committed to University of Washington and its interdisciplinary honors program.”