February 23, 2021

Forecast: February 23rd, 2021

By Calen Randall

Hey Huskies,

Are you enjoying the rays of sun shinning through the clouds? You can thank the Olympic Mountains for the partially clear skies today, as the rain shadow is doing a terrific job keeping the central and south Puget Sound regions rain free.

You can even spot the small gap in the clouds centered over the Kitsap Peninsula on this morning’s satellite radar!

While the weather is not as blustery as it was during the atmospheric river on Sunday, the winds are still gusty in most Puget Sound areas as turbulent marine air flows over the region. The unstable air (you can see the mix of clouds and clear skies in the satellite imagery off the coast) could lead to scattered showers and even a stray thunderstorm or two tonight. Evening showers are likely and residents of the Convergence Zone might even see some hail.

Though the rain shadow is currently keeping Seattle dry, snow continues to fall in the Cascades. The fast accumulating snow has kept avalanche danger levels high. Snow rates of 1-2” per hour in the mountains are still likely tonight. Another weather system will bring rain to Seattle late tomorrow and into Thursday. The system could add over a foot of snow to the Cascades, so keep an eye out for alerts if you plan to travel through any mountain passes this week!

Expect temperatures in the upper 40s and cool lows in the upper 30s today and throughout the week. With the mix of sun, rain, and wind, there is something for all types of weather fans to enjoy this week.

As an added bonus, the first sunrise before 7:00 A.M. has arrived! We are less than ten days away from a 6:00 P.M. sunset and less than three weeks away from daylight savings and a 7:15 P.M. sunset!

Reach forecaster Calen Randall at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu. Twitter: @Wx19Calen

AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES	CURRENT RADAR