March 18, 2022

Forecast: March 18th, 2022

Last updated 4:38 PM, Friday March 18th, 2022

By Preston Donion

Happy Friday Huskies!

Winter quarter is officially in the rear view mirror! Whether you’re celebrating because finals week went great, or just celebrating that it’s done with, you’ve got a week of relaxation ahead. So what’s on tap for spring break in Seattle?

A springtime classic was served up today: showers and sunbreaks. As I learned when recording today’s video forecast, those two can trade shifts very quickly; it was sprinkling for my first take and mostly sunny about five minutes later! This back and forth battle will give way to a rainy night, before a soggy and breezy Saturday. Temperatures should be just a few degrees shy of normal, so between that and the rain, it may be an excellent day to just stay inside and catch some of the March Madness action.

If you were, for some reason, missing winter quarter, have no fear: Sunday’s weather will allow you to experience those January/February days all over again! Highs will only reach the upper 40s as we see another batch of showers and sunbreaks. Sounds like basketball watching weather yet again…but maybe I’m just too big of a hoops fan. Monday (the Spring Equinox!) should see similar temperatures and steadier rain before the big day we’ve all been waiting for: our first 60° day! We can expect temperatures in the low to mid 60s around the Sound under mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday, ending our long sub-60° run at 127 days. When was that last 60° day? November 15th! It’s been a long time coming, so it’ll be a nice treat after a wet weekend. We may get another 60° day on Wednesday, but the tradeoff is the return of the rain. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take it! Thursday looks a bit cooler, but still on track for this time of year with mostly cloudy skies. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster week, but what more could you expect in March?

Most of the attention is focused on those high temperatures and their climb as we move into spring, but as the in-house climatology geek, I’d like to draw your attention to another interesting landmark: On average, March 16th is the last day that we go below freezing for the season. We snuck into the 20s last Thursday, and I wouldn’t be shocked if that was our last crack at the cold until the fall (the average first freeze of the fall/winter is November 13th). But as we say goodbye to the threat of a slippery Red Square, another menacing threat takes its place: all that pollen! All jokes aside, have a fantastic spring break and keep an eye on the Dawgcast for more on spring’s ups and downs—we’ll cover it all!

Reach forecaster Preston Donion at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu or on Twitter @PrestonDonion.