February 23, 2023

Forecast: February 23rd, 2023 (PM)

Last updated 4:55 PM Thursday, 23 February 2023 

By Kyra Schlezinger

Good Evening Huskies!

It’s been a very cold day on campus. Temperatures were below freezing for most of the day, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. The maximum temperature recorded at SeaTac today was 36 degrees, which ties the record for 2/23’s coldest max temperature. Temperatures tonight may also approach record-breaking lows. Tonight’s low will be about 24 degrees, with the record low being 23.  Even if we don’t break any records today, we’re far below normal for this time of year. Today’s highs and lows are about 15 degrees colder than average! So much for being a few days away from the start of meteorological spring.

Though it won’t be particularly windy overnight, some mild winds will make tonight’s coldest temperatures feel even colder. Windchills will remain in the low 20s, even briefly dipping down to 19 degrees at about 7 pm tonight. This is much colder than many of us who live in Western Washington experience on a regular basis, so make sure to dress warmly when leaving the house tonight and tomorrow morning, bring any outside pets inside, and tell that one person in your life who insists on wearing shorts no matter the temperature to maybe reconsider.

There was quite a bit of variation in temperature across the US today, shown by the spectrum of colors spanning the high temperatures map. To see the difference between the unseasonably cold temperatures of the Northwest and the summer-like weather of the Southeast,  I need to look no further than to my own family. Needless to say, my sibling in Washington, DC had a very different weather day than I did. After I sent them a picture of the current conditions here in Seattle, they sent me a picture of them enjoying a nice picnic outside. Today’s high in DC was more than twice as warm as the high here. I’m definitely not jealous…

The wintery weather doesn’t stop tomorrow, even though temperatures will start to warm back up. Snow remains a possibility through the first half of next week. As always, we’ll keep you updated as conditions develop.

 

 

    Reach forecaster Kyra Schlezinger at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu or on Twitter @TheUWDawgcast.