Rain and wind to ease slightly for the weekend

An inch of rain had fallen over Olympia by 1:30 p.m. as a storm front moved over the region, dumping between one and two feet of snow in the Cascades Friday.

“Saturday would be the ideal day to go skiing,” said Mike McFarland, National Weather Service meteorologist. “There is lots of new snow and it should still be cool.”

The “vigorous” system was expected to douse the Olympic coast with up to two inches of rain. The Olympia area got its expected inch, as well as winds between 20 mph to 30 mph with 40 mph gusts.

The band of heavy rain turned to showers by the afternoon.

The weather service is expecting scattered showers today and another small front moving through on Sunday.

“Of the two days, Saturday afternoon has a better chance of seeing sun,” McFarland said.

The storm was typical for the season, according to meteorologist Kirby Cook.

“We have had fairly benign weather for the last week or so,” Cook said. “So this is kind of a typical storm for this time of year; it’s going to have some impacts, but not unusual.”

Chelsea Krotzer: 360-754-5476 ckrotzer@theolympian.com theolympian.com/thisjustin @chelseakrotzer