From bitter cold to battering winds, a deluge of rain or a dumping of storm, there’s a cornucopia of weather Mother Nature can serve up on Thanksgiving in Seattle. After all, late November is our wettest month of the year, where storms commonly beeline in from the Pacific, so just about any type of PNW weather can be an appetizer for that big meal.
Well, almost any type, except really warm air. Over the past 80 years of records at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), the warmest Thanksgiving was 59 degrees. Not even 60 degrees, which has happened in other northern locales from Minneapolis to Maine. But that record warm 1983 Seattle Thanksgiving Day was even more notable, as that warmth was a sign of something else brewing, as a windstorm developed. It would bring 64 mph gusts to Renton and widespread power outages to hundreds of thousands of people, unable to cook dinner. Trees came down, waves crashed on Alki Beach; it was a very memorable 1983 Thanksgiving.
The coldest Thanksgiving? Well, the Grunge movement was just getting started, and it would have been the perfect opportunity to don a few flannels. It was 1985, and temperatures bottomed out at 21 degrees for a truly cold turkey day in Seattle. Like with the record warmest, this record-coldest Thanksgiving paired with another helping of extreme weather. An almost 8-inch snowstorm fell on the day before, stuffing the streets with snow. Crashes lined the hilly roads as people reportedly cross-country skied those extra calories off on the streets.
In a city most notably known for overindulging in rain, the title of wettest Thanksgiving goes to 2009. That year, our rain gauges imbibed 1.34 inches of rainfall, capping off a perfectly stormy November. But many will argue, Thanksgiving rain is easier to digest than a big windstorm or snowstorm, or a buffet of all of these.
Although snow has fallen on Thanksgiving Day a few times, most recently a trace in 2010, the only time on record with measurable snow falling actually on Thanksgiving Day was 1964 with 2.2 inches. Remember that?
Sampling the 80-year records, 44 Seattle Thanksgivings poured measurable rain over the city, with 14 more drizzling just a trace. That leaves behind only 22 out of 80 years where Thanksgiving was actually “dry” — almost one in four.
This year, add another rainy Thanksgiving to the list. Meanwhile, we’ll monitor how strong the wind gusts get. Have a great day, before you know it, Christmas will be here — with its own horn-of-plenty of wild Seattle weather extremes!
