A familiar weather pattern remains over our region with a weak north-south oriented frontal band offshore and a strong ridge of high pressure anchored over the intermountain west. Light bands of precipitation will rotate up from the south today and Friday night. The west slopes of the Cascades and the Olympics are the most likely to see light precipitation in the form of high-elevation snow and low to mid-elevation rain. The Cascade Passes and east slopes of the Cascades will mostly experience cloudy skies but a bout of light precipitation or even a brief wintry mix can't be ruled out. Freezing levels will remain elevated today and tonight as well. The main weather story will be strong SE winds for most areas. Winds should peak this afternoon and evening before tapering down overnight.
The weak frontal band will push inland during the day on Saturday, crossing the Cascades in the afternoon. We'll see cloud ceilings lower and most areas will see light precipitation. Snow levels will lower into the 5000-5500' range on Saturday afternoon.
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
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds becoming strong in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow, especially Paradise and Crystal areas. Slightly cooler White Pass area. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow, especially Paradise and Crystal areas. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds easing after midnight.
Friday
Cloudy with a chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate SE ridgeline and Pass level winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with a chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate SE ridgeline and Pass level winds Cloudy with a chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate SE ridgeline and Pass level winds easing after midnight.
Friday
Cloudy with a chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate E Pass level and strong SE ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with a chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate E Pass level and strong SE ridgeline winds easing after midnight.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with a slight chance of light rain, snow or wintry mix. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds easing after midnight.
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).