A few stray showers continue to hang around the region this morning particularly near Snoqualmie Pass, Mt Rainier, and Mt Hood. While you shouldn't be surprised to encounter a few snowflakes falling from the sky, dry conditions will prevail. Most locations should see a least some periods of significant sunshine especially further south and east of the Cascade crest. All in all, Saturday looks like a beautiful day for the mountains.
We can thank a high-pressure ridge in the eastern Pacific for this break in the precipitation. This feature will drive our weather for the weekend. A weak short-wave system will pass over the ridge and into the Pacific Northwest Saturday night spreading clouds, increasing ridgetop winds, and light snowfall to the mountains. Precipitation with this event struggles to make it east of the Cascade crest with the bulk of the moisture focussing north of Mt Rainier. Don't expect too much from this weak system, but some locations could receive 2-4" of snow by late Sunday morning.
The high-pressure ridge should begin to flatten and shift east over Washington during the day Sunday. This appears to quickly bring an end to any lingering snowfall and ushers in warmer air. Expect cloudy skies, decreasing winds, and warming temperatures as we wrap up the weekend.
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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Saturday
Partly cloudy with clouds increasing. Isolated showers possible in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light snow showers.
Saturday
Mostly sunny in the morning becoming cloudy in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy. Scattered snow showers.
Saturday
Partly cloudy in the morning with increasing clouds late in the day.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with scattered snow showers.
Saturday
Partly cloudy to mostly sunny. High thin clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with significant sun breaks possible.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with significant sun breaks possible. Isolated showers in the early morning.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light to occasionally moderate showers. W winds increasing and becoming strong overnight.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. High thin clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers possible.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. High thin clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers near the crest. Strong W winds.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with high thin clouds increasing late in the day. Strong NW winds easing slightly.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Isolated showers possible near the crest. Moderate to strong WNW winds.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with isolated showers in the morning. Significant sun breaks possible. Strong NW winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers possible. Strong NW winds.
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).