GOES and the Fraser Valley Outflow

A bit of a follow up on the Fraser outflow weather in northwest Washington. On Tuesday I drove through Skagit County and along Chuckanut Drive to Bellingham. A dusting of snow covered the ground in Skagit and along Chuckanut. At the north end of the Chuckanut Range at Bellingham there was an abrupt change with a heavy snow covering. As frequently as I have witnessed this, it still is amazing to see. I was curious to see how what I saw on the ground was captured by the new GOES satellite.  

GOES Visible light imagery February 7, 2017

If one clicks on the image to blow it up in size the faint dusting of snow in Skagit County can be seen southeast of Bellingham Bay. North of the bay, Whatcom County is deeply white. The streak of snow extends out to the southwest with snow on the San Juan Islands. The north slopes on the Olympic Range also got snow associated with uplift as the Fraser outflow stream of air rises up the slope. On the day of the image a heavy line of clouds was still present on the north slope of the Olympic Range.