Seattle ‘not likely’ to see repeat of 2021’s record-shattering February snow
Feb 9, 2022, 8:19 AM | Updated: 8:26 am
(Getty Images)
The month of February has brought record snowfall to the Seattle area in two out of the last three years. But if current forecasts hold up, the region isn’t likely to see a repeat performance in 2022.
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That’s according to KIRO 7 meteorologist Claire Anderson, who points to an “unfavorable pattern” of weather to start the month, driven by a high pressure ridge preventing temperatures from getting low enough to bring snow.
“What are the chances of seeing snow in Seattle this February? NOT likely — forecast isn’t looking cold enough,” Anderson said on Twitter.
What are the chances of seeing snow in Seattle this February? NOT likely– forecast isn't looking cold enough. Also, how about 3 years ago when Feb. 2019 was the snowiest on record! On this day we had some major snow in downtown Seattle! @kiro7seattle #kiro7seattle #seattle #wawx pic.twitter.com/uhiHRK5bI3
— Claire Anderson (@ClaireKIRO7) February 9, 2022
The same couldn’t be said in February of 2019, when over 20 inches of measurable snow fell at SeaTac over the course of the month, shattering a 70-year record by a wide margin. Before then, the previous high was 13.1 inches, set in February of 1949.
In the following year, most of the region’s snow fell in January and December. February of 2021 was a different story, marked by the snowiest single day Seattle had seen in any month in 52 years, after 8.9 inches fell on Feb. 13. That was the most snow the city had seen on a February day in nearly a century; combined between Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, that was also the most snow the Seattle area had seen over a two-day period in 49 years.
In the larger context of February snow, the Seattle area received over 12 total inches for the month in 2021, the fifth most it had ever seen for the month on record.