January 24, 2025

Winter Blues? More like Winter Suns!

Last updated 1:20 PM, Thursday, January 24th, 2025

By: Alexandria Best, Gaby Castronover, Joseph Renalds, and Jake Stevenson

This weekend’s forecast is serving up yet another, sun-soaked weekend! Expect mostly sunny skies with a dash of clouds,perfect weather for outdoor plans such as a weekend hiking, skiing or even a little study session in the sunshine before we kick off Week 4 of classes. This clear weather brings a crisp view of Mt. Rainer but also the promise of some truly stunning sunsets. Soak up the sunshine while it lasts and enjoy the golden glow of this dry spell before clouds start to roll in midweek!

It’s good weather to get outside this weekend huskies! However, if you are out in the mornings be cautious as the overnight lows are below freezing so there might be some icy patches on the sidewalks. Other than that, Saturday and Sunday afternoon are both great times to go get a weekend run or hike in. Whether it be local areas like the Burke-Gilman Trail, Ravenna park– or places outside the Seattle area; this weekend is a great opportunity to get out and embrace the winter sunshine! 

As was mentioned in the blog earlier this week, January 2025 is on track to be the third driest January on record for SeaTac Airport. Snowpack in Washington has also taken a bit of a hit due to the lack of new snow for several weeks. Fresh snow does look to make a return around the end of the month, so we will keep you updated as that storm pattern gets closer.

Although many of you mountain lovers may be quailing at the lack of snow in the higher elevations for those of us who prefer our air a little thicker there is some good news for seasonal water storage. Despite lackluster snowfall in the month of January drought conditions have retreated into the north cascades as heavy rains and snow in the month of December brought up snow and rainfall totals for the rainy season. Many of you are anxiously watching the southern tier of California and are worried that the fire season will be particularly bad this year in the PNW but should the rains return by the end of the month, as we expect, there is little cause for the forest fire alarm at this time for Western Washington. 

We hope you had a wonderful week 3 Huskies and are making the most of our unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Stay tuned for next week’s blogs as we await the return of the rain!

Reach forecasters Alexandria Best, Gaby Castronover, Joseph Renalds, and Jake Stevenson at uwdawgcast@uw.edu, on X/Twitter @TheUWDawgcast, or on Instagram @uwdawgcast.