Like a true weather nerd, I keep an ongoing list of all the notable weather events throughout the year.
In looking back through my notes, I noticed extreme bouts of weather were few and far between in 2023. Winter has been calm, almost too calm with many foggy mornings. But we had no threatening 'Heat Dome', nor any extended periods of choking wildfire smoke.
Quick Weather Stats for Seattle in 2023:
- Hottest: 95 degrees on Aug. 15 & 16
- Coldest: 22 degrees on Feb. 24
- Wettest: 2.39" on Dec. 5
- Snowiest: 1.6" on Feb. 26
If I were to grade this year's weather for overall excellence, I would give 2023 an A-. So, here's to a new year in looking back at some of my most memorable weather moments of the year.
A small, yet sneaky storm off the southwest Washington coast produced continuous bands of snow over the Portland metro Feb. 22-23, narrowly missing Puget Sound.
Portland saw 10.8 inches of snow on Feb. 22, the second snowiest day on record. Washougal, southern Clark County, saw 16 inches of snow. Roads were a mess across the Portland metro and the greater Vancouver area as motorists ditched cars on highways and interstates.
The Sourdough Fire was reported on July 29. Lightning turned out to be the culprit of this fire outside of Diablo in the North Cascades National Park.
The 6,639-acre fire closed the North Cascades Highway for a time as vegetation smoldered for weeks in steep terrain bordering Ross Lake. On Aug. 4, the intense heat from the fire generated a noticeable fire cloud that was spotted over 60 miles away in Puget Sound.
The summer of 2023 saw a lack of heat, especially compared to 2022 which still holds the record for the most 90 degree days at 13.
While Seattle only had six 90-degree days this summer, the Emerald City saw a record stretch of warm nights. For the first time in 130 years of records, Seattle had three nights in a row with lows 67 degrees or warmer on Aug. 14-16.
During the weekend of Aug. 19-20, the Puget Sound region experienced a short stint of wildfire smoke.
Western Washington's deep blue sky turned a hazy hue of orange as air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels that Sunday in August.
A thunderous night it was on Aug. 24-25 when a total of 2,138 lightning strikes occurred across Oregon and Washington.
Locally, 70-80 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were detected in Lewis, Pierce, and Thurston counties.
"Roughly 30 of those (a significant fraction) have been positive lightning strikes which are significantly more powerful which makes them more likely to start fires," according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
A brief tornado was confirmed on Oct. 11 outside Vancouver, Wash. The weak EF-0 twister was captured on video by a trained storm spotter in La Center.
The tornado was on the ground for less than a minute. Trash cans and a basketball hoop were blown over, but no other damage was reported. Another round of tornadic activity came less than a week later to the Portland area.
Most of the time, tiny quakes beneath the Earth's surface go without much notice. But a 4.3 magnitude earthquake was felt by many throughout western Washington on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 8.
November tends to be the stormiest month of the year, but the first two weeks of November 2023 were eerily quiet, almost too quiet. Bouts of freezing fog and heavy frost led to several mornings of icy road conditions.
A warm, long-lasting atmospheric river dumped 6-8 inches of soaking rain on the Cascade Mountains. Nearly 9" of rainfall at the headwaters of the Stillaguamish River resulted in a record crest of 21.34' at 1:50 p.m. on Dec. 5.
The Northwest Avalanche Center estimated that 25%-30% of the snowpack was lost as a result of the mild rain event in the mountains. Luckily, this event occurred early in the mountain snow season. Had there been a deeper snowpack at the onset of the atmospheric river, the lowland flooding could have been much worse.
The Puget Sound community lost a wonderful man this year.
KOMO 4's Steve Pool passed awayon Nov. 21 surrounded by family and friends after battling early-onset Alzheimer's, according to Pool's family. He was 70 years old. His wonderful memory lives on with many of us in western Washington.
Now, with record warmth during the final days of the year, this December may go down as being one of the top five warmest on record!
What are your most memorable weather moments of 2023? Share in the comments below.