We are in for a beautiful sunny day across the region as an upper-level ridge of high pressure flops over southern B.C. and Washington State today. The nearly cut-off upper-level low that has been causing afternoon clouds and mountain showers over parts of the region the last few days has drifted far enough south over California to lose influence over the PNW. After a cool start to the morning, freezing levels will rebound into the 5000-5500' range along with generally light winds becoming light to locally moderate westerly winds in the afternoon and evening. A frontal system pushing into central British Columbia may allow a few high clouds to glance the Olympics and north Cascades this morning.
The high pressure ridge will hold in place overnight and Friday but will begin to flatten as the aforementioned frontal system continues to push into central B.C. The biggest forecast question right now seems to be how many high clouds will pass over the region later tonight and Friday; there will likely be periods of filtered sunshine for the first half of the day over the Washington Cascades and Olympics. Freezing levels will bump up a notch on Friday.
We'll see a warming trend continue over the weekend with the next Pacific frontal system waiting until Sunday or Sunday evening to arrive.
Weather Forecast
Olympics
West North
West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
Use dropdown to select your zone
Thursday
Sunny with periods of high clouds this morning.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight.
Thursday
Sunny with periods of high clouds this morning.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight.
Thursday
Sunny.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight.
Thursday
Sunny.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear.
Thursday
Sunny. Light winds becoming light westerlies in the afternoon at Pass level.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight. Light to moderate west winds at Pass level.
Thursday
Sunny. Light winds becoming light westerlies in the afternoon at Pass level.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight. Light to moderate west winds at Pass level.
Thursday
Sunny with periods of high clouds this morning.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy with increasing high clouds after midnight.
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).