High pressure will dominate our weather for the next 2+ days. High freezing levels and above freezing temperatures will dominate to the west of the Cascade crest with much cooler air to the east side of the Cascades. The Cascade Passes and to a lesser extent, Mt Hood will battle between mild and cool air masses. Snoqualmie and White Passes should see milder air and above freezing temperatures at their upper elevation sensors while Stevens will likely stay in the freezer through this period.
As always with cool easterly offshore flow and a strong ridge of high-pressure moving overhead, there is a decent amount of uncertainty and large regional variation from East to West across the forecast area. Other than a few high clouds this morning and the potential for low clouds in the Passes/valleys on the east slopes of the Cascades later tonight and tomorrow, mostly clear skies are expected over the short term.
Weather Forecast
Olympics
West North
West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
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Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning. Cooler near the Cascade crest including White Pass.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Cooler near the Cascade crest including White Pass. Areas of low clouds possible White Pass.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Areas of low clouds possible overnight. Light east winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Areas of low clouds possible overnight. Light to moderate east winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Areas of low clouds possible valleys and lower slopes overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Areas of low clouds possible valleys and lower slopes overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Periods of high clouds in the morning.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Areas of low clouds possible valleys and lower slopes overnight.
The NWAC program is administered by the USDA-Forest Service and operates from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Seattle. NWAC services are made possible by important collaboration and support from a wide variety of federal, state and private cooperators.
The 5000’ temperature forecast does not imply a trend over the 12 hr period and only represents the max and min temperatures within a 12 hr period in the zone. The 6-hr snow level forecast, the forecast discussion, and weather forecast sections may add detail regarding temperature trends.
The snow level forecast represents the general snow level over a 6 hr time period. Freezing levels are forecast when precipitation is not expected.
*Easterly or offshore flow is highlighted with an asterisk when we expect relatively cool east winds in the major Cascade Passes. Easterly flow will often lead to temperature inversions and is a key variable for forecasting precipitation type in the Cascade Passes. Strong easterly flow events can affect terrain on a more regional scale.
Ridgeline winds are the average wind speed and direction over a 6 hr time period.
The wind forecast represents an elevation range instead of a single elevation slice. The elevation range overlaps with the near and above treeline elevation bands in the avalanche forecast and differs per zone.
Wind direction indicates the direction the wind originates or comes from on the 16-point compass rose.
Water Equivalent (WE) is the liquid water equivalent of all precipitation types; rain, snow, ice pellets, etc., forecast to the hundredth of an inch at specific locations. To use WE as a proxy for snowfall amounts, start with a snow to water ratio of 10:1 (10 inches of snow = 1 inch WE). Temperatures at or near freezing will generally have a lower ratio (heavy wet snow) and very cold temperatures can have a much higher ratio (dry fluffy snow).