February 29, 2024

An Active End To Meteorological Winter

By Joseph Renalds and Alec Weise

Happy Thursday Huskies!

After a week of uneventful weather and false spring, we have  leaped back  back into winter.  High temperatures have been in the mid forties and this week has featured gusty winds and a cold soggy rain. In fact Seattle saw nearly an inch of rain over the last twenty four hours.

Now that we are in the post cold frontal setup, we will be keeping an eye on convective activity later today into the afternoon. The Storm Prediction is even including us in their convective outlook today under T-Storms.

The Sandwich RGB satellite shows these popcorn-like clouds behind the front with the cold cloud tops being evident. This is an indication that enough instability will be present to result in some thunderstorms. gusty winds and graupel.

These showers will continue into the evening hours and if they are heavy enough you could see a brief rain/snow mix. The best chance for this is not in Seattle, but surrounding areas above 500 feet could see some snowflakes early tomorrow morning. We will continue to have these chances as marginal temperatures continue through the weekend. Overall precipitation amounts today will generally be under half an inch, but any convective storm that traverses over the area could make the weather wacky for a short period of time.

Friday and Saturday will remain showery with high temps remaining in the mid forties, a good five degrees or so below normal. Tonight under this cold air mass, we will bottom out into the low-mid thirties. 

Looking a bit farther ahead to Dead Week, we can expect calmer conditions with rain showers around. Temperatures will also be about the same with highs getting into the low 40s and lows being in the mid-30s. Despite this dreary redundant forecast, there are signs of spring starting to emerge. On my walk through the Quad this morning I saw the cherry trees with buds getting ready to bloom and some trees starting to flower. Hopefully that means we can forecast the first warm spring day for you soon, but as many of you know, Washington winters do not like to go out without a fight. 

Have a great rest of your week Huskies!