November 23, 2022

Forecast: November 23rd, 2022

Last updated 6:45 PM Wednesday, November 23, 2022   

By Abi King

Hey there, huskies!

How did you like that rain yesterday? After quite the dry spell, the city of Seattle got absolutely soaked! Our Atmospheric Science department measured over an inch of rain in just 9 hours, which is quite impressive.

After that rainy reminder that we are still in Washington, it looks like the skies will be clearing up once again just in time for any thanksgiving travels! Today was a bit overcast with a few glimpses of clear sky and a nice high of 54 degrees with a minimum temperature dropping to lower 40’s. Below is a snapshot of our department’s sky cam, where we can see multiple levels of clouds and a hint of that blue sky. If you look closely at Mt.Rainer, you can see some lenticular clouds hovering over the mountain!

Tomorrow, the sun will break through for most of the day and we can expect to see highs reach into the mid-50’s. Fun fact: the average high temperatures for Thanksgiving in Seattle since 1950 is about 49.7 degrees, so it is likely that we will top that by a few degrees! Despite the “toasty” temperatures, our low will dip down into the high 30s, but at least those in Seattle can enjoy the clear weather while it’s here!

We can thank the high pressure system accompanied by an upper atmospheric ridge for such lovely weather. Below is a screenshot of a model showing the 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies from one of my personal favorite sites, Tropical Tidbits. The red indicates that the geopotential height in our area is higher than it usually is this time of year, thus providing the perfect environment for these warmer temperatures!

However, that ridge will quickly give way to a frontal system that is moving in Friday morning, ushering some rain to restart our typical blustery weather. It looks like a few more fronts will make their way towards us as the weekend continues, providing some showers and perhaps even some windy conditions on Saturday!

If anyone has been looking ahead at what is in store for the next 10 days, they may have noticed some snowflake icons on the forecast. Although lowland snow may not be entirely probable, at least us snow lovers can dream! We will most definitely keep an eye on this possibility and cross our fingers that the Geopotential height will drop to the 520 line, which would cool down the near surface air to a point where snowfall might become a reality! In the meantime, perhaps this is a sign to start blasting some of that Christmas music.

Reach forecaster Abi King theuwdawgcast@uw.edu or on Twitter @TheUWDawgcast.