February 23, 2023

Forecast: 23 February 2023 (Morning)

Forecast: 23 February 2023 (Morning)

By Raphael Bakin

Hello Huskies!

Happy Thursday morning, or should we say, “Brrrsday” morning! 

Thanks to a persistent low pressure system which moved in a few days ago, Seattle has been quite cold, and the lingering precipitation showers yesterday caused one fifth of an inch of snowfall! Of course, people who read this from Clark County, Washington are going to say “Pfft. We got eight to ten inches of snow. Your fifth of an inch is nothing.”

This snow was one of those “you blink and you miss it” showers — the surface of the Quad yesterday was completely white at 9:30 am, but by noon it was back to its ordinary green.

Stubborn cloud cover last night prevented temperatures from falling as low as predicted, but the airport and UW campus dropped to 27° and 29° respectively.

As predicted by most forecasting models, this morning will start out pretty cold and cloudy, which will make travel hazardous in many areas. Light snow showers are also a possibility. Temperatures will not exceed freezing until after 10 am, and even then will only rise to the mid 30s. The current all time lowest maximum daily temperature in Seattle for today is 36°; we could threaten that today!

As the day goes on, the clouds look like they could potentially clear out, resulting in a partly sunny afternoon and evening. Be warned, though; this does mean the temperature could drop to the lower 20s. New precipitation from that point is unlikely, but ice will most probably be present due to the subfreezing temperatures. We could even tie the daily minimum temperature record, set… just last year.

Friday and Saturday look like they won’t have much precipitation during the day, but will be COLD. This is because a weak ridge will be present instead of the trough currently above us now. However, a cold front will come in on Sunday morning that will likely bring some more flurries before the day warms up and it turns to rain. 

While Monday morning may feature some more light snow, next Monday afternoon will finally be the end to all of this subfreezing weather, with temperatures getting close to 40 and then staying just above the freezing mark overnight. Unfortunately, though, we will remain in this pattern for much of next week where it’s just a little too warm for there to be a decent chance of snow, but just a little too cold for us to know it will all be rain. Mother Nature, please make up your mind!

Also, here at the Dawgcast, we know that Winter Quarter is almost always the most difficult emotionally of all UW quarters, and this rain/snow uncertainty isn’t making it any better. Luckily, there is news which we guess is good for some students and not—so—good for others: With us being almost at the end of week eight, only a few weeks remain before classes finish, but that also means that final exams will be here soon. 

Hang in there, Huskies, you’ve got this, and in only about 40 to 50 days, the Quad will turn into its legendary pink color! Have a great end to your week.