Temperatures continue their steady march upward as we enter yet another day of very warm and sunny weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly all of our mountain weather stations remained above freezing last night (several for the 3rd night in a row), with many staying in the 40's or even 50's! As increasingly warmer air seeps into the region you will see the hottest daytime temperatures so far this season. We anticipate most mountain locations to reach well into the 50's with several trailheads toping 60 today. Overnight, clear skies will allow for weak inversions in a few valleys and passes, but generally, temperatures should stay very warm. We expect another night of above-freezing temperatures. As you head into the weekend, the warm-up finally peaks with the hottest weather Saturday into Sunday.
Windy conditions persist for the southern half of the region keeping temperatures a few degrees cooler. Locations near the crest from I90 south should see moderate to strong easterly winds throughout Friday. Mt Hood will continue to take the brunt of this wind event, with very strong and gusty ridgeline winds. By Saturday, the offshore flow eases, and wind speeds should gradually drop.
At this point, we are deep into the most sustained and warmest stretch of weather our snowpack has seen all year. This hot and sunny pattern will hang with us through the weekend
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
Friday
Sunny and warm. Calm winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Light E winds becoming calm.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Calm winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Calm winds.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Calm E winds becoming light.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Light E winds becoming calm.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Moderate E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Moderate to strong E winds.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Light E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Light E winds.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Light E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Light E winds increasing overnight.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Light and variable winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Calm winds.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Light to moderate E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. E winds becoming moderate overnight.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Moderate to strong E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Moderate to strong E winds.
Friday
Sunny and warm. Very strong E winds.
Friday
Night
Clear and warm. Strong E winds decreasing slightly 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).