March 8, 2022

Forecast: March 8th, 2022

By Raphael Bakin

Happy Tuesday, Huskies! One of the most interesting things about the atmosphere is its complexity. Here, we had a ridge over the eastern Pacific Ocean. So we would be dry here, right? Nope! The ridge was JUST far enough offshore that a system could come inland today and bring us some precipitation . This precipitation won’t last beyond tonight, though, as the system will move away and the ridge intensifies. That will also cause the temperature to drop, down potentially all of the way to freezing. Wednesday looks dry, and we may even see some sunshine show up! Temperatures will climb to the upper 40s, but drop back to freezing overnight, maybe even potentially dropping into the 20s – in March!

Unfortunately, this sunshine looks short-lived; enjoy it while it lasts, because the ridge begins to weaken on Thursday and Friday, which both remain dry, but will consist of overcast skies amid temperatures in the 40s. The current weather pattern will then start directing a bunch of storms into the region, and the effect will be similar to an atmospheric faucet turning on. Saturday begins an extended stretch of days whose temperatures will be in the upper 40s to low 50s, that are wet, wet, wet! You’ll need rain protection for most of those days! That being said, this will reduce the temptation to enjoy yourselves, and allow yourselves to focus on finals. For many of us, this has been a difficult quarter, but don’t worry! While this is dead week, and that means finals are just around the corner, guess what’s ahead: Spring Break! Yep, only slightly over 1.5 weeks remain in this quarter.

Also, to get you more excited, sunsets have already crossed 6 pm, and while the introduction to Daylight Saving Time next week will result in fewer hours of sleep on Sunday, it will also push sunsets to 7 pm – you won’t be walking home from classes in the dark anymore! Sorry about the rainy finals week, but we aren’t that far from spring… at least astronomically. (Yes, meteorological spring and astronomical spring are different.) Happy March, and good luck on surviving dead week and finals!