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This winter has been coldest in Seattle since 1985

It’s been an abnormally chilly and damp few months

By Sarah Anne Lloyd
A snow-coated Seattle street with three pedestrians crossing. Green traffic lights can be seen in the background. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

If your heating bill weren’t evidence enough, the National Weather Service has confirmed it: This winter has been the coldest Seattle has seen in a long time.

December 2016 through February 2017 was Seattle’s coldest since 1985, with 56 days below normal temperatures, according to NWS Seattle.

It’s also been a wetter-than-usual several months, with nine inches above normal precipitation since October—although we got more than 13 inches during the same time period the year before.

We’re already on track for a higher-than-normal full year for precipitation in 2017.

While Seattle may get a little more snow in the coming days, anyone who needs to pass through the Cascades may want to prepare for a snowy onslaught. NWS is expecting one to two new feet of snow in the passes over the next couple of days.

The winter storm warning also comes with a prediction of two to three new feet of snow at Paradise and Mount Baker, so there’s at least a silver lining on the slopes after the storm settles.

On Twitter Wednesday night, NWS Seattle assured everyone that the long winter will be over before we know it—with a series of locally-relevant Nirvana puns.

It’s unclear just when that sliver of hope is coming for people who crave the sun’s return—the NWS seven day forecast shows possibilities of snow in the city through Monday.