A weak ridge transits the region on Friday, yielding a dry morning across the region. The region starts the day with widespread mid and high cloud cover and temperatures in the 20s across most mountain areas. Temperatures moderate significantly by the afternoon thanks to partial clearing skies over the central and southern Cascades during the mid-day hours and downslope warming as increasing light W winds descend the eastern slopes of the Cascades. Late in the day, very light frontal precipitation at the leading edge of a trough arrives along the coast and may bring some very light rain/snow to Hurricane Ridge and Mt. Baker by the end of the day.
Increasing light to occasionally moderate rain/snow spreads across the region Friday night. Snow levels start around 3500 ft in the north to 5500 ft in the Mt. Hood area, but descend around 1000 ft overnight with further lowering as precipitation becomes showery Saturday morning, then tapers in the afternoon. Convergence develops around the Snohomish/King county line early Saturday morning and moves southward to somewhere between Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes later in the morning. This could enhance snowfall amounts for Stevens Pass. This looks like a 2-5" event above the rain/snow line. Winds also peak early Saturday and may be moderate to occasionally strong with acceleration along the east slopes of the Cascades and through the mountain gaps.
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
Partly cloudy in the morning, then becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of very light rain/snow during the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Very light rain/snow becoming showery overnight.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of very light rain/snow late in the day.
Friday
Night
Increasing light rain/snow with cooling temperatures.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with partial clearing likely during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Light rain/snow becoming light to moderate with enhancement in convergence bands over Snohomish county and northern King County.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Increasing light rain/snow.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours. Increasing light W winds at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Increasing light rain/snow. Increasing light W wind.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours. Increasing light W winds at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Increasing light rain/snow. Increasing light W wind.
Friday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Increasing very light rain/snow.
Friday
Partly cloudy with a period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Increasing light rain/snow mainly closer to the Cascade Crest.
Friday
Partly cloudy with an extended period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Cloudy early with a chance of very light rain/snow overnight.
Friday
Partly cloudy with an extended period of mostly sunny skies during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Very light rain/snow developing in the late evening hours and increasing overnight along with the potential for strong wind gusts increasing.
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).