Much of the region will experience dry and mild weather today as a subtle high pressure nudges into the region from the north. This should bring 5000-5500 ft freezing levels to the central/northern Cascades and Olympics by the afternoon. However, deep low continues to drift southward off the California Coast. Wrap-around moisture associated with a weak occluded front continues to bring some light rain/snow to the east slopes of the Cascades south of I-90 with some spillover near the Cascade Crest. Moderate E winds focusing on the Cascade Crest and western foothills will continue to ramp down into the light range by late morning as the upper-level support for these winds diminishes. By the afternoon, models indicate that subtle instability could touch off some light convective showers over the southern Cascade volcanoes. These showers could linger from Mt Rainier southward overnight.
Light W winds gradually increase from late Wednesday through Thursday. After a dry start to the day on Thursday, very subtle troughing could help touch off some drippy weather with light rain/snow possibly developing with lift along the west slopes of the Cascades. Temperatures should cool slightly with snow levels around 3500-4000 ft. Any snow accumulations should be very light through Thursday.
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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Wednesday
Mostly sunny in the morning with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny with scattered clouds in the afternoon in the southern part.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds in the north. Partly cloudy further south.
Wednesday
Occasional light rain or snow in the morning with rain/snow showers focusing on the volcanoes in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds focusing on the Cascade Crest decreasing into the light range by the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Scattered showers becoming isolated.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny in the morning with scattered clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds becoming light. Light E winds switching W at the Pass by the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
A few clouds. Light ridgeline and W wind at the Pass.
Wednesday
Partly cloudy with a slight chance of very light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds becoming light. Light E winds switching W at the Pass by the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
A few clouds. Light ridgeline and W wind at the Pass.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Moderate ridgeline winds early becoming light.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with high clouds.
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with periods of very light rain or snow decreasing or ending. Moderate ridgeline winds becoming light.
Wednesday
Night
Partly cloudy.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with periods of light rain or snow decreasing with isolated showers possible in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds becoming light.
Wednesday
Night
Partly cloudy with isolated rain/snow showers.
Wednesday
Decreasing periods of light rain/snow in the morning. Isolated rain/snow showers in 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).