A broad and vertically stacked low-pressure has cut off from the jetstream and trends south off the Oregon coastline on Saturday. A weak associated warm front fizzles over the Olympics and northern Washington Casades and may bring a dusting to a few inches of snow to parts of the Olympics and west slopes of the northern Cascades. A deep pool of very cold air holds strong to the east of the Cascades, while southerly winds have raised temperatures around 10 degrees since this time yesterday morning to the west of the Cascades. Temperatures should continue to the moderation trend, with highs on Saturday in the upper 20s and low 30s for Mt. Baker and Paradise, while areas east of the Cascades and the mountain gaps remain cold with east winds. As the offshore low continues southward, easterly flow should amplify and pea Saturday night into early Sunday leading to moderate or occasionally strong E winds. Another perturbation ejecting from the aforementioned low brings periods of light snow for Mt. Hood and the southern Washington Cascades all day Sunday, with precipitation reaching the central Washington Cascades late in the afternoon. Mt. Hood could pick up 2-4" of low-density snow 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
Snow showers and flurries ending by mid-morning, then becoming partly to mostly sunny.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear.
Saturday
A chance of isolated snow showers or flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Most clear.
Saturday
A chance of isolated snow showers or flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy to start, then becoming partly cloudy.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear in the evening with clouds increasing overnight.
Saturday
A chance of isolated flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear in the evening with clouds increasing overnight. Moderate ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
A chance of isolated flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear in the evening with clouds increasing overnight. Moderate to strong ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
A chance of isolated flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear. Cold.
Saturday
A chance of isolated flurries prior to 10 AM, then becoming mostly sunny by late morning.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with clouds increasing after midight. Cold.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy in the morning, then becoming partly to mostly sunny.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with clouds increasing after midight. Cold.
Saturday
Mostly sunny in the morning with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. Moderate 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).