High clouds will lower and thicken across the region as the day progresses on Saturday as a week-long high pressure gradually loses influence across the region. WSW ridgeline winds should increase into the moderate range for the Olympics, Mt. Baker, Mt Hood, and the east slopes of the Cascades. Strong inversions remain below 4000 ft, east of the Cascade Crest Sunday morning. Expect these inversions to become increasingly shallow or mix out with the increasing winds, but cold air should hang on in the Methow Valley. Moderate to strong E winds continue to push the cold air through the mountain gaps and these winds should gradually ease over the next 24 hours.
Light rain and snow increase across the Olympics and northwest Washington overnight. Snow levels should be around 3000-4000 ft.
Rain and snow intensify as the occluded frontal system arrives on Sunday with increasing moderate to possibly strong WSW ridgeline winds. With the warm front likely to lift north to around the mountain loop area, expect snow levels to rise up to 4000-5000 ft with less precipitation than originally expected across the central Washington Cascades during the day. Mt. Baker should still expect around 1 ft of snowfall by the end of the day on Sunday.
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
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion mixing out by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Increasing light rain and snow.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion mixing out by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Increasing light rain and snow becoming moderate.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion mixing out by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow developing in the late evening and increasing overnight.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion mixing out by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow developing after midnight.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion becoming increasingly shallow or mixing out. Decreasing light to occasionally moderate E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow developing overnight. Light E winds at the Pass.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion becoming increasingly shallow or mixing out. Decreasing moderate to occasionally strong E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow developing overnight. Light to moderate E winds at the Pass becoming light.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Strong inversion with warming confined to areas close to the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light snow developing in the early morning hours.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Strong inversion thinning or mixing out during the day.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light snow developing after midnight.
Saturday
High clouds lowering and thickening. Inversion thinning or mixing out during the day.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light snow possible by morning.
Saturday
High clouds with mid-level clouds moving in during the afternoon. Low-level inversion thinning.
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).