An upper trough traverses to the north of our region as a weak front brings a few rain/snow showers as it moves through the Cascades Monday morning. Expect a few showers (less than 0.25" precipitation) for all locations receiving precipitation from Paradise to the Canadian border. Clouds have been shallow and precipitation falls apart as soon as it hits any mountains. This means that locations east of the Cascade Crest should remain mostly dry today. Winds will be the biggest story with strong winds along the east slopes of the Cascades, through some mountain gaps, and for Mt. Hood. So far, Mt. Rainier seems to be blocking the stronger W winds from Crystal. The front also brings some cooler temperatures at upper elevations after it passes the Cascades by around 8 AM. Snow levels lower to around 4000 ft in areas receiving precipitation during the afternoon.
The ridge offshore gradually begins to expand toward our region, bringing a gradual warming trend and a return of shallow inversions overnight. Another weak disturbance moving over the top of the ridge should increase clouds Tuesday afternoon and could bring some very light rain/snow to the Mt. Baker area by the end of the day. Areas further south will be warmer and sunnier with spring-like temperatures and generally light winds.
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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Monday
Partly cloudy with a slight chance of a rain or snow showers.
Monday
Night
Partly cloudy with clouds increasing in the early morning hours.
Monday
Light rain and snow showers primarily in the morning with strong ridgeline wind gusts likely during the morning.
Monday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Monday
Light rain and snow showers with convergence over Snohomish county focusing rain/snow in the afternoon.
Monday
Night
Weak convergence ends early, but remaining mostly cloudy.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with light rain or snow showers primarily at Paradise during the morning hours.
Monday
Night
Partly cloudy with low clouds and fog in the valleys.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with a few rain or snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate W wind at the Pass.
Monday
Night
Partly cloudy. Light W wind at the Pass.
Monday
Light rain or snow showers. Moderate W wind at the Pass.
Monday
Night
Partly cloudy. W wind decreasing into the light range at the Pass.
Monday
Partly cloudy. A slight chance of a rain/snow shower during the morning areas. Warming at low elevations. Strong ridgeline wind gusts.
Monday
Night
Partly cloudy.
Monday
Partly cloudy. Strong ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Scattered clouds near the Cascade Crest, otherwise mostly clear.
Monday
Partly cloudy. Strong ridgeline winds at times.
Monday
Night
Scattered clouds near the Cascade Crest, otherwise mostly clear.
Monday
Clear early, then mostly cloudy during the mid-day hours with a chance of a brief rain/snow shower. Strong ridgeline 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).