A trough exiting to the east of the region brings decreasing light rain/snow showers and decreasing convergence to the west slopes of the Cascades. Most areas will see a trace to an inch of snow, but a few areas could see 1-2" of snow in areas where weak convergence favors. These areas are generally on the very western slopes of the Cascades from the Canadian border south to around highway 2. Expect increasing chances for sunshine as the day wears on with full sunshine likely in areas well east of the Cascade Crest.
Some low clouds remain trapped against the west slopes of the Cascades under a weak ridge of high pressure moving in Thursday night. Expect enough clearing for some decent radiational cooling and temperatures dropping into the 20s in most locations.
Another trough approaches the area with increasing clouds and milder temperatures on Friday. Some light rain/snow should reach Mt. Baker and the western Olympics by the end of the day with snow levels around 3000 ft. Freezing levels should rise to the 4000-5000 ft range with less cloud cover further south and east across the region.
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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Thursday
Partly to mostly cloudy.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool.
Thursday
Light rain/snow showers focusing on the south and west sides of Mt. Baker tapering throughout the day.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool.
Thursday
Decreasing light rain/snow showers.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool.
Thursday
Decreasing very light rain/snow showers. Becoming partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool.
Thursday
Decreasing very light rain/snow showers. Light W wind at the Pass.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool. Light W wind at the Pass.
Thursday
Decreasing light rain/snow showers and very weak convergence. Light W wind at the Pass.
Thursday
Night
Partly cloudy and cool. Light W wind at the Pass.
Thursday
A few snow flurries early near the Cascade Crest, otherwise mostly to partly cloudy.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear and cool.
Thursday
A few snow flurries early near the Cascade Crest, otherwise mostly to partly cloudy.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear and cool.
Thursday
A few snow flurries early near the Cascade Crest, otherwise mostly to partly cloudy.
Thursday
Night
Mostly clear and cool.
Thursday
A few snow showers early, then becoming partly cloudy by the afternoon.
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).