February 27, 2023

Forecast: February 27th, 2023

Last updated 1:40 PM, Monday, February 27th, 2023  

By Joseph Renalds and Amelia Gordon

This last weekend was definitely an exciting weekend for weather fans. Snow fell around the lowlands, but you had to have been up pretty late on Saturday and in the right spot on Sunday to see it. The increased sun angle and daylight hours definitely make it more difficult to see snow here in Seattle near the end of February, but last weekend is likely not going to be the last chance of snow this winter. 

As we are writing this blog, there are showers moving north around the Seattle area due to a low pressure area moving over Washington State. The temperatures around the area right now are several degrees above freezing and precipitation is struggling to even make it to the surface here on campus. I wouldn’t expect anything significant out of these showers. This morning and heading into Tuesday will be a lot of radar watching as we will have more showers scattered around the area. There is a chance to see snow out of these showers tomorrow. If there is any snow, it would be similar to the snow we saw on Saturday; very wet and drippy. 

For now, there is a Winter Weather Advisory for the lowlands of Western WA, with a trace to 2 inches possible Tuesday. What areas see snow is largely dependent on the track that the aforementioned low pressure area takes as it moves inland. This situation is very difficult to forecast precisely due to how marginal the temperatures are in certain areas and how they interact with local topography. So don’t be surprised if you see snow, but also don’t expect it.

Looking ahead, Wednesday appears to be our first day of the week with no precipitation forecasted. Temperatures return to average by mid-week, with overnight lows in the upper 30s expected through Sunday, and highs in the mid-40s. Tuesday morning (shown in the graphic below) as well as Wednesday night into Thursday could see some gusts moving through the Puget Sound area, bringing in some rain Thursday morning. 

As we wrap up this short month, the climate data appears to be looking similar to the end of January: temperatures just below average, and behind on precipitation by about 1.5 inches. With any luck, we could end Tuesday with a little more accumulation than the graph shows. 

Have a great week, Huskies! 

Reach forecasters Joseph Renalds and Amelia Gordon at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu or on Twitter @TheUWDawgcast and Instagram @UWDawgcast