An occluded frontal system will pass through the Cascades late this morning bringing a round of steady rain and snow to the region for the first half of Wednesday. Following the frontal passage this afternoon, we'll see showers pepper the area in SW flow. Snow levels in the Cascade Passes and along the east slopes of the Cascades will be around 2500-3000' this morning and pop up to 4000-4500' this afternoon. The Mt Baker area will see a slight cooling trend this afternoon along with some heavier showers. The Olympics and Mt Hood area will generally be the mild outliers in this pattern.
Showers will become more scattered this evening before tapering off after midnight. A shortwave trough will pass through the area on Thursday, bringing a more focused round of light showers in the afternoon. Snow levels will wander between 3500-4500' for much of tonight and Wednesday. While these snow levels aren't too exciting, they are lower than what we'll see over the weekend.
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
Light rain and snow this morning becoming light rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Light rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Light to moderate rain and snow this morning becoming moderate to occasionally heavy rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Moderate ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Light to moderate rain and snow this morning becoming light to moderate rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Moderate ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Light to moderate rain and snow this morning becoming light to moderate rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Heaviest precipitation Paradise and St Helens area. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Light to moderate rain and snow this morning becoming light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate SE-E ridgeline and Pass level winds becoming Westerly in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Light rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Light to moderate W ridgeline winds, variable and light winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Light to moderate rain and snow this morning becoming light to moderate rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate SE-E ridgeline and Pass level winds becoming Westerly in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. Moderate W ridgeline winds, variable and light winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Light rain and snow this morning becoming light scattered rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Scattered light rain and snow showers tapering off after midnight. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Light rain and snow this morning becoming light scattered rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Night
Scattered light rain and snow showers tapering off after midnight. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Light rain and snow this morning becoming light scattered rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Night
Scattered light rain and snow showers tapering off after midnight. Moderate ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Moderate to occasionally heavy rain and snow this morning becoming light to moderate rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming scattered showers after midnight. 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).