Deep Freeze To Keep Region Chilly All Week

Arctic air pushing into Western Washington has sent temperatures plunging to the lowest in nearly a year, and the unseasonably cold weather will be with us all week, forecasters in the KIRO 7 Weather Center said.

Meteorologist Rick Van Cise said it will be very cold again Monday night, but without high wind or the accompanying wind-chills, except over the northern interior. Lows will be in the teens and 20s Tuesday morning, Van Cise said in his detailed forecast.

Monday morning's low temperature at Sea-Tac Airport was 23 degrees, the lowest since a cold snap on Dec. 20, 2008. The lowest temperature on record for Dec. 7 is 18 degrees, set in 1972. Thirty degrees was the high temperature Monday for both Seattle and Everett. Tacoma’s high temperature was 31 degrees.

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Forecasters said lows will be in the teens and highs in the 30s in Western Washington for the next few days.

“Cold, arctic air continues to smother the Northwest,” Van Cise said.

Although it’s cold enough, he said with no moisture in the air no snow will be falling.

On Tuesday it will be sunny and cold, but with less winds. Seattle will reach a high of 32 degrees.

In Tacoma, a water leak created an icy surface in the northbound lanes at 3918 East Portland Avenue that forced utility crews to close one lane. See video.

Patches of ice slowed traffic on Greenlake Way at Ashworth Avenue in the Greenlake neighborhood, while in nearby Wallingford, people spread salt and sand on icy sidewalks. See video.

Seattle's homeless shelters were packed Monday morning. An area inside City Hall's Fourth Avenue entrance was also open for the homeless overnight. See list of cold weather shelters here.

Forecasters said temperatures in parts of Eastern Washington Monday night will be as much as 5 below zero. Lows the rest of the week are expected in the single digits, but the highs won't get out of the 20s in Eastern Washington.

Rain looks to move back in for the upcoming weekend in Western Washington.