Another fine day is on tap across the Pacific Northwest after high clouds draped across the Washington Cascades and Olympics lift north in the afternoon. Overnight temperatures were generally a few degrees warmer this morning than yesterday. That's a trend that should continue today with freezing levels and afternoon temperatures slightly warmer than Thursday.
An upper level ridge of high pressure centered offshore has flopped over into Pacific Northwest and extends inland. The ridge axis won't shift very much over the next 36 hours. A frontal boundary and storm track is aimed at central British Columbia. The orientation of that frontal boundary will change as we head into tomorrow with a trough digging behind the front and re-orienting the boundary in a more south-north fashion. The quasi-stationary upper level low feature that's been with us for most of the week has moved into southern California and won't be a factor in our region today.
The frontal system should be far enough offshore Saturday to keep the mostly sunny stretch going through the afternoon. Increasing high clouds are possible late in the day for the Olympics. Mild temperatures will continue Friday night and Saturday. Freezing levels will continue their gradual climb, peaking between 7000-9000' on Saturday.
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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Friday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming partly to mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Partly cloudy in the evening then mostly clear.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming partly to mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
Partly cloudy with periods of filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
Partly cloudy with periods of filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon. Light west winds at Pass level becoming moderate in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear. Light west winds at Pass level becoming light after midnight.
Friday
Partly cloudy with periods of filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon. Light west winds at Pass level becoming moderate in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear. Light west winds at Pass level becoming light after midnight.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
Partly cloudy with periods of filtered sunshine and high clouds in the morning becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
A few high clouds in the morning, otherwise mostly sunny.
Friday
Night
Mostly clear.
Friday
A few high clouds in the morning, otherwise mostly sunny.
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).