ONCE THE FRONT COMES THROUGH...COLD POLAR AIR FROM THE ALASKA PANHANDLE WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE REGION. RECENT GFS RUNS HAVE THEN SPUN UP A SURFACE LOW OFF THE VANCOUVER ISLAND COAST...A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN THIS PATTERN...WHICH THEN STARTS TO SLOP MOISTURE ONSHORE OVER THE POLAR AIR. EVENTUALLY BY NEXT SATURDAY...WE END UP WITH A 516 DECAMETER LOW AT 500 MB SITTING OVERHEAD...A SURFACE LOW JUST TO OUR SOUTH...AND A 1048 MB ARCTIC HIGH CENTERED OVER THE YUKON NOSING IN FROM THE NORTH. IF IT VERIFIES...THIS COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT LOWLAND SNOW EVENT. THE FOLKS BACK AT NCEP IN THEIR EXTENDED DISCUSSION EVEN COMPARED THE PATTERN TO JANUARY 1950...ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUSLY SNOWY MONTHS FOR SEATTLE. BEFORE YOU PLAN A SNOW PARTY...THE MODELS HAVE SHOWN TWO OR THREE SEPARATE TIMES IN RECENT WEEKS THIS GENERAL LONGWAVE PATTERN A WEEK IN ADVANCE...AND IT HAS NOT VERIFIED IN ANY CASE NEARLY TO THE EXTREME WHICH THE GFS SHOWED A WEEK IN ADVANCE. STILL...THE MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT NOW FOR SEVERAL DAYS WITH THE END RESULT...AND THE LEADING COLD FRONT IS NOW ONLY FIVE DAYS OUT. STAY TUNED. HANER