What Washingtonians Should Expect From the Rest of Winter

As a skiier, I've been pretty disappointed with the unusually warm temperatures and lack of percipitation to start the winter.

What’s Driving the Warm Winter

While you may have been hoping for a white Christmas across Washington, Mother Nature did something very different. You saw torrential downpour from atmospheric rivers in December, and now, in January, you're seeing unusually warm temperatures and very little rain and snow.

How January Has Compared to Average

READ MORE: The Top 10 Things Washingtonians Are Quietly Done Caring About

An average high temperature for Washington is 37 degrees with a low around 26 degrees, according to NOAA. Temperatures for this January? In the mid-40s!
So, what about the rest of winter?

What Forecasts Say About the Rest of Winter

Farmer's Almanac expects the rest of the winter to be a bit colder, with below average percipitation amounts.

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For the rest of January, you'll likely see periods of rain and snow, then dry patterns for the end part of the month and very cold.

To start of February, Farmer's Almanac is predicting snowy periods and very cold temperatures, but then it will warm up and bring rain until mid-February. From there, you can expect mild temperatures and rain-snow mix. The end of February should bring a few rain and snow showers.

In Western Washington, expect lots of rain showers and very little snow. The pattern looks a lot like Eastern Washington, rainy and sunny to end January, a very cold to start to February, then a mild and wet rest of the month.

What This Means for Skiers and Drivers

Farmer's Almanac thinks there's only a couple notable snow events in our future this winter. That's a bummer for skiers like me that were hoping for heavy snowfall. If you're someone who wanted to skip the snow shoveling this winter, well, you're in luck.