A ridge of high pressure and low level offshore flow produced record high temperatures on the North Washington coast.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
A ridge of high pressure and low level offshore flow produced record high temperatures on the North Washington coast.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 14, 8:13 PM PST, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Seattle WA
813 PM PST Thu Dec 14 2023
.UPDATE...A band of showers off the Washington coast continue to
move north ahead of a slow moving warm front this evening. A few
showers may stretch out inland up through the Southwest Interior/Olympic
region, and far north Puget Sound overnight into Friday morning.
Additionally, patchy fog is possible in areas Friday morning, but
given that high/mid cloud cover is expected to remain
significant, the risk for widespread dense fog is low. Weather
will remain quiet going into the weekend before the next system
arrives Monday. See the discussion below for more details.
HPR
&&
.SYNOPSIS...A weak stationary front remains draped along the
Columbia River, and will gradually lift northward tonight and
linger over Western Washington into early Saturday. High pressure
builds over the region for the rest of the weekend, with a cutoff
surface low nudging northward Sunday night into Monday, followed
by another surface low digging southward towards the California
coast into the middle of next week.
&&
.SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/...A gloomy afternoon, though
drier as this morning's cold front has stalled out its transition
into a stationary front just to our south along the Columbia
River. Abundant low clouds will keep skies overcast with
intermittent mist and drizzle at times. A secondary weak mid-level
perturbation will push a weak surface low northward off the coast
tonight, helping to draw the stationary front northward across
Western Washington tonight. This will also bring another round of
light rain to the coast, totally a few more tenths of an inch.
Otherwise, fairly quiet conditions with seasonably mild conditions
with highs in the upper 40s to around 50 and snow levels
remaining above pass-level near 5000 feet. Though rather
unimpressive this time of year, there is potential for record
highs in the mid to upper 50s over lower elevations on the western
portion of the Olympic Peninsula near Quillayute Friday and Sunday.
.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...Long range ensemble
clusters are in overall good agreement for a cutoff vertically-
stacked low to meander off the northern California coast through
the first half of the week. The first surface lows with this
feature lifts northward Sunday night into Monday with rain
spreading northward across Western Washington into Monday and
Tuesday along with seasonably mild highs in in the upper 40s to
lower 50s.
A secondary shortwave trough digs southward behind the
first low Tuesday into Wednesday, cutting off from the main
westerly polar jet and drifting towards the northern California
coast. This should drive the bulk of the deeper moisture and heavy
rainfall Tuesday and Wednesday to our south. Snow levels also
remain relatively high for mid-December from 5000-7000 feet.
Davis
&&
.AVIATION...Southwesterly flow aloft across Western Washington with
light east to southeasterly surface flow. Trend is for MVFR to
low-end VFR across most terminals overnight. The exception is
KOLM and KPWT where shallow fog may form. VFR conditions with mid
to high level clouds with light offshore flow expected Friday.
KSEA...MVFR to low-end VFR conditions tonight. Light NE to E wind
at the surface to 7 kt. VFR conditions prevail after 15-18z
Friday.
33/LH
&&
.MARINE...Offshore flow becoming more southeasterly as a warm front
passes over the waters tonight. Winds will filter through the gaps
and reach Small Craft Advisory criteria for the western Strait of
Juan de Fuca and the coastal waters. Another push of easterlies
are possible through the Strait of Juan de Fuca Saturday evening
into Sunday. A low pressure system is expected to pass northward
along the coast Monday, which could bring another round of
headlines to the coastal waters. The strength of the winds are
highly dependent on the evolution of this low and its interaction
with a larger system well offshore.
Seas 8 to 9 ft at 12 s will slightly drop to 5 to 7 ft for the
weekend. Seas will likely return to around 8 to near 10 ft Monday,
but could rise above 10 ft if the system brings stronger winds. Seas
will also have a southerly and a westerly component to them for the
beginning of next week.
33/LH
&&
.HYDROLOGY...No river flooding is expected in the next 7 days.
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...None.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 10 AM PST Friday for West Entrance
U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca.
Small Craft Advisory until 4 PM PST Friday for Coastal Waters
From Cape Flattery To James Island 10 To 60 Nm-Coastal
Waters From Cape Flattery To James Island Out 10 Nm-Coastal
Waters From James Island To Point Grenville 10 To 60 Nm-
Coastal Waters From James Island To Point Grenville Out 10
Nm-Coastal Waters From Point Grenville To Cape Shoalwater
10 To 60 Nm-Coastal Waters From Point Grenville To Cape
Shoalwater Out 10 Nm.
&&3 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
A record high temperature of 57 degrees was set at Quillayute airport. This broke the previous daily record of 55 degrees set in 1980.
A high temperature of 57 degrees at Quillayute airport tied the previous daily record last set in 1980.
A record high temperature of 57 degrees at Quillayute airport broke the previous daily record of 55 degrees set in 1981.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2023
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1151541, 1151542, 1151543.