Meatyorologist

Right before midnight too!

Let's go!!

Wind speeds are dying in north Seattle as things try to decouple. 18.9F at a sensor a block away.

Down to 19F here again.

Competing with Jan 1950 or Jan 1880 here for cold potential would have me losing it. It's theoretically possible in this part of the city, but not the airport or downtown, not anymore at least.

The pieces have been almost all there, but have never quite made it until tonight. It's usually one thing, which is kind of frustrating. Feb 2019 had the upper level support and buckets of snow, but kind of a weak airmass. Jan 2020 had a god tier airmass and some snow, but hardly any upper level support. Feb 2021 had the upper level support and the snow, and even the lower level cold, but it was simply too late in the year, and too cloudy. Dec 2021 had pretty much everything perfectly right! But the details were almost all too wrong, and it was far too moist overall. That night we hit 13F, it was mostly cloudy. It was truly a beast of a polar lobe. But we never cleared up. KSEA only got down to 17F as a result. This go around we have the snow, the upper level support (barely!), a true beast of a low level airmass on par with some of the greats, and now, finally the cloudless long nights that maximize insulation. The perfect combination for getting cold mins. And to boot, tomorrow morning cloudcover increases while gradients remain offshore, so we will also maximize our frigid high temperature potential tomorrow. Just awesome to see.

Maybe some cold core thunderstorms for the coast Saturday afternoon?

It may not mean a whole lot for Friday's precip type, but it does have quite the implication for our temperatures tonight. A deeper, more entrenched airmass means less clouds, deeper boundary layer, and less thermal energy in the lower atmosphere. Those differences compound and could allow for an extra few degrees of cooling. I know I'm being a total weenie dork about the low temperatures tonight, but these kinds of rare instances of overperforming cold are growing even more rare by the year. And they are surrounded by an ever larger mass of heat records. I am relishing in this rare, precious win. Especially since the kind if cold potential tonight stacks big, right along our very best cold snaps even decades ago. That is something we haven't really seen in 12 years now, arguably since 1990.

I wonder if KSEA will have a sub-20F tomorrow. Hasn't happened since February 1989. That is my personal benchmark for what consitutes a top-tier airmass. That and single digit lows.

The benchmark this century for KSEA is 14F in 2008 and 2010.

Forgot to mention that. Snow is an amazing insulator. Tonight may be the coldest all this century given global warming.

Holy crap, temperatures are dropping like a damn rock. I keep refreshing Wundermap every 10-15 mins, and it's around 0.5-1F colder across the board. Maybe we hit 19F at my place before 5pm?!?

If tonight isn't our coldest night of the winter, that would be seriously impressive. This is a deep airmass (deeper than modeled), with clear skies and the longest night of the year after the shortest day. Just about the best case scenario you could imagine.

21F at 4:30pm at my place with clear skies. It is going to get COLD tonight... colder than any night last December. Way ahead of what I thought our pace would be so far. We'll be in the teens before 6pm, and threatening single digits by midnight. KSEA is going to be a site I'll watch very closely. Same for KEUG, hopefully they can reach 32F before midnight as to avoid a midnight high above freezing. Could break Tiger's streak tomorrow.

Take pics and video! That should be a once-per-generation type cold front. Instant temp change, blowing dust, sharp stratus deck boundary.

Pretty mild, tepid day in the Denver area. Ignore those weird readings to the north, they're probably errors..

February 1936 was absolutely nutty. Two months removed from peak insolation but still by far the coldest month ever recorded across the northern plains. Days and weeks on end of sub -20F weather, some readings below -60F. Just a mean kind of winter. Not even half a year later a similarly anomalous July crushed the very same places with unfathomable heat. A strange, unforgiving year for the plains... Could you imagine being a farmer trying to survive at the time? After an already unforgiving 1920s?

Was just noting how today was literally the perfect day of the year to have a sunny, cold Arctic day. Feels like an old school blast in the Seattle area from the perspective of sfc details. Rain->Couple inches of snow->Couple days of very cold, dry, sunny weather->Messy overrunning event

KSEA gunning for a 30/20 type of day. Very potent low level blast

KSEA had a 23/14 spread 12/22/1983. Both the high and low are records. Both are in jeapordy tomorrow. Kind of perfect timing for it... Outflow relaxes and skies clear this evening, temps plummet overnight. Tomorrow E-W pressure gradients tighten and high and middle level clouds filter in overhead, keeping the cold isulated. Only issue would be a midnight high on either end, or more overnight cloudcover than expected. Both of which I subtly expect at this point knowing how KSEA manages to overperform on temps.

Cooling off to 24F at my place with sunny skies... That is impressive as hell. Dewpoint at 20F.

Lowest psun angles of the yeer twoday!

In other special news.. The new 2" of snow yesterday has brought my forum total to the 50" benchmark!

That is some really neat info actually

25/22 here. Coldest temperature of the season thus far, beating out 26F early this month. Probably not going to warm up much past this today, then we'll shatter that figure later tonight into tomorrow morning. On the watch for the coldest temperature I've ever recorded/lived through, and potentially the first single digits since Dec 1990. A new 2" of snow blanketing everything ought to help with that effort tremendously.