Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

The first in a series of short-wave storms is just arriving this afternoon and bringing a few showers into the mountains. The precipitation has been a little slow out of the gate, as the associated front stalls offshore. Eventually, rain and snow will meander their way into the Cascades, but without much movement by the storm itself, these showers should struggle to make it much farther than the crest. Relatively mild air across the region will result in rain or mixed precipitation at the Passes and many trailheads overnight and into Sunday. 

Our second storm is a bit bigger. As it approaches the coast Sunday, it will shove the stalled front eastward. These combining systems will have three big impacts. 1: Look for winds to increase especially in the afternoon. Some of the more wind-prone locations like Mt Hood, Mt Baker, Crystal Mt, and Mission Ridge could see very strong and gusty winds. 2: Moderate to heavy precipitation rates will accompany the front. Given the southerly flow associated with this system, this could also result in an upslope event for portions of the Wenatchee Mountains and areas near the Teanaway River and Salmon la Sac. 3: Colder air behind the front will cause temperatures to fall. This probably won't occur until Sunday evening, but will eventually bring snow back below Pass levels. As the bulk of the precipitation exists, low-level moisture and onshore flow should maintain showers overnight and into the first part of Monday. 

After a brief break in the action Monday morning, yet another short-wave system will approach the Pacific Northwest. This 3rd storm will once again increase winds and snowfall rates primarily in the afternoon hours. While the models continue to struggle with this last feature, they do all agree that our wet and active weather pattern will persist into at least the middle of the week.