February 22, 2022

Forecast: February 22nd, 2022

By Raphael Bakin

Hello Huskies! Today is a very unique day: It’s “Twos–day”! Not only is this the 22nd day of the 2nd month of the year 2022, it’s a Tuesday.

A surprise weak thermal trough moved in yesterday night, preventing temperatures from falling well below freezing with its cloud cover, but bringing an unexpected surprise: snow! That’s right, in many locations on campus and around the U District, there were a few flurries of snow overnight. This snow was, in a way, right in the ‘sweet spot’ where the ground looked beautiful, but driving was not disrupted and the University operations continued as usual.

Thanks to the temperature being close to the dew point and the sun’s relative weakness in late February, the clouds are struggling to clear, and temperatures are not going to rise much above the low to mid 30s. Hopefully, we will see some clearing tonight, but that will also mean incredibly cold temperatures. Seattle could drop to the lower 20s, which has resulted in statements like ‘Near record low temperatures.’ A day in the 20s in February is not common, but it also has happened a few times before.

Of course, with wind from the North or Northeast in many areas, the temperatures will remain cold, but precipitation will be very limited, if it occurs at all. So don’t expect more snow; instead, the sun should return for those days. This pattern will continue on Saturday, when a Pacific warm front moves in. That will raise the temperatures back to the upper 40s and near 50, quite a change from this week, and also bring back the precipitation!

Unfortunately, in the Northwest, the classic weather struggle continues: We either get cold temperatures or we get precipitation… rarely both.

This quarter has been challenging for a lot of UW students… keep it up! You’re almost there, with just three weeks to go!