Cold/Wind Chill — Western Whatcom County, Washington

2024-01-12 to 2024-01-13 · Western Whatcom County, Washington

Event narrative

A record low temperature of 3 degrees was recorded at Bellingham airport. This broke the previous record of 4 degrees set in 1950.

Wider weather episode

A modified Arctic front moved into Western Washington. After producing some locally heavy snowfall on the Olympic Peninsula, it was followed by strong Fraser River outflow winds and several days of cold temperatures when a number of record low temperature records were set. It also resulted in several cold weather related deaths in King County. As precipitation moved into the region at the end of the cold episode, heavy snow was reported across the North Interior and freezing rain/drizzle resulted in travel impacts around Puget Sound.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1160299. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.