A weak warm front will lift north today, barely clipping the Olympic peninsula and northwest Cascades with a touch of light precipitation this morning. An upper level ridge will push the frontal band well north into British Columbia and we'll be on our way to soaring freezing levels across the region. The one caveat will be along the east slopes of the Cascades where colder temperatures will hang on near and north of Hwy2 at least for today. Low clouds near and east of the Cascade Passes should begin to break up in the afternoon. We'll see mid-mountain temperatures in the 40s - for areas west of the Cascade crest we're already there. S or SE winds will be locally breezy in the Mt Baker area and through the Cascade gaps. It won't be completely bluebird this afternoon, we should see a fair amount of high clouds float over the area today.
High pressure will keep dry conditions going through the weekend. Look for those high, 7000-10000' freezing levels to work their way into the northeast Cascades overnight and Saturday. The one nuance feature for Saturday is that the tail end of a frontal system and jet streak to our north will bring a bit more high clouds and alpine winds (above 7000') to the central and north Cascades.
Weather Forecast
Olympics
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West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
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Friday
Cloudy with a chance of light rain or snow in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Cloudy with a slight chance of light rain or snow in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Cooler lower slopes with areas of low clouds near White Pass. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Cooler lower slopes. Light to moderate winds at ridgeline and Pass level.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning, then partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Cooler lower slopes. Moderate winds at ridgeline and Pass level.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with cooler temperatures and areas of low clouds lower slopes and valleys. Becoming partly sunny in the afternoon with high clouds and periods of filtered sunshine.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Colder temperatures with areas of low clouds lower slopes and valleys.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with areas of low clouds lower slopes and valleys. Becoming partly to mostly sunny in the afternoon with high clouds and periods of filtered sunshine. Milder temperatures upper slopes near the Cascade crest.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Scattered low clouds lower slopes and valleys.
Friday
Partly cloudy with cooler temperatures and areas of low clouds lower slopes and valleys. Becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon with high clouds and periods of filtered sunshine. Milder temperatures upper slopes near the Cascade crest.
Friday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds.
Friday
Partly to mostly sunny with high clouds and periods of filtered sunshine.
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).