(Reuters) ? Seattle residents bracing for an epic storm on Wednesday may now only see up to 6 inches of snowfall while towns in the southwest interior of Washington were likely to be slammed with more than a foot of snow, forecasters said.
In the greater Seattle area about 1 to 2 inches of snow dusted the ground in the early morning hours with about 3 to 6 inches expected, down from forecasts of up to 10 inches, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dustin Guy.
Seattle typically averages just six to seven inches of snow each year.
Toward the southwest interior of the state, however, residents were preparing for up to 20 inches of snow, he said, with reports of 12 to 15 inches already on the ground in an eight hour period just south of the capital city of Olympia.
"For western Washington, those are pretty extreme numbers," Guy said.
State agencies were prepared early to monitor the developing weather situation as dozens of school districts around Seattle closed for the day and transportation snarled.
Air travel was expected to be disrupted throughout the day, with Alaska Airlines already cancelling 38 west coast flights into and out of Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Southwest and JetBlue airlines also urged passengers to check with carriers before traveling to the region.
The brunt of the snowstorm was expected through the early afternoon, tapering off into the evening, NWS said. By Thursday forecasters expected to see a gradual warming trend followed by rain.
"That will help to melt the snow but it will also create a very messy situation," said NWS meteorologist Guy.
(Reporting By Lauren Keiper, additional reporting by Laura Myers in Washington. Editing by Paul Thomasch)
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