Temperatures on the North Olympic Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday dropped to the lowest they’ve been since early February, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.
The chilly weather was not close to any records and was likely noticeable because of the juxtaposition to the unseasonably warm weather this winter, said Andy Haner, meteorologist based in Seattle.
“Although the temperatures were some of the coolest we’ve had in about a month, they are not unusual for March,” Haner said. “The fact that so many people have noticed points more to the warm weather we’ve had this winter than to the cold temperatures this week.”
The first three weeks of the year were the warmest on record.
Tuesday’s low: 25
Tuesday morning, Quilcene had the coldest temperatures on the Peninsula with a low of 25 degrees.
Haner said that Quilcene and other areas along Hood Canal are typical spots for “cold pockets,” and that proved to be true on Monday and Tuesday.
“That is the coldest it’s been there since Feb. 7,” Haner said.
“And that is really the theme of all the locations on the Peninsula.”
Quilcene and Neah Bay — the polar ends of the Peninsula — are the only areas on the Peninsula in which forecasters expected snow today.
But in both communities, the snow isn’t expected to stick on elevations lower than 500 feet, Haner said.
On Tuesday morning, Forks hovered right around freezing with a low of 33 degrees.
Today, the countryside around Forks could see snow at elevations higher than 500 feet, Haner said.
“If there is any snow at all in Forks or Port Angeles, it will be a light dusting, and I wouldn’t think any at all in town — but people might be able to see it low on the hills,” he said.
Port Angeles dropped just below freezing at 30 degrees Tuesday morning and although the temperature spiked to 46 degrees mid-day on Monday it was only briefly.
Today’s snow levels were expected to drop to between 500 and 700 feet, but quickly rise to 1,500 feet by this afternoon.
Complete records for Sequim and Port Townsend weren’t available because the National Weather Service doesn’t maintain stations at either place.
However, the low temperature reported this week to the National Weather Service was 30 degrees in Sequim and 31 degrees in Port Townsend, Haner said.
A bit of snow falling — though none sticking — was reported throughout the Peninsula on Monday, he said.
Dry air
Haner said that cool temperatures might feel more biting than they ordinarily would because the air is unusually dry.
“The way I always explain it is that if you step out of a pool on a 90-degree day in Arizona, it will feel a lot cooler than stepping out of a pool on a 90-degree day in Florida.
“That is because the dryer air causes all the moisture to evaporate.
“So, as a snow flake falls, if that air is dry, it is going to help keep it cooler than if the air were more moist.”
High temperatures are expected to be in the upper 40s, while lows are in the low to mid 30s throughout the rest of the week.
Gradual warming
“We’ll have a very gradual warm-up for the areas along the Strait [of Juan de Fuca],” Haner said.
Although many fruit trees have already bloomed, Haner said he believes that most native plants are hardy enough to survive a plunge in temperature.
“It is not unusual at all to have some freezing weather in the spring,” he said.
“And what really matters is the duration of the freeze — or what we call a hard freeze — but as I said, we’ll have a gradual warm-up, and it doesn’t look like it will stay freezing and below this week at least.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
