Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

The Pacific Northwest will gradually ease out of a very active weather pattern. In the wake of a slowly moving N-S-oriented frontal boundary, the bent back tail of the offshore low will bring a pulse of elevated winds to NW Washington. These winds should target the Olympic Mountains strong SSW winds in the evening hours and extreme gusts. Ridgeline winds may be in the moderate to strong range for Mt Baker. Winds should gradually decrease in all areas overnight and into Saturday as the low rotates further offshore.

A frontal system slowly eases eastward Friday afternoon, allowing a N-S band of precipitation to exit the region. Focus shifts to shower activity spinning into our region on SSW flow with the upper trough parked offshore through the weekend. Snow levels gradually lower Friday night into the 3000-4000 ft range and then further to 2500-3500 ft for the remainder of the weekend.  Snow showers range in intensity, but should be moderate to locally heavy at times on the Cascade Volcanoes and the highest totals over the Olympics. Convection should enable significant spillover to the northern Olympics as well. Mt Baker, Hurricane Ridge, and Paradise can all expect 8-20” of snow. However, the Olympics and Mt Baker can expect the most significant snowfall Friday night and Saturday. In contrast, Paradise and the southern and eastern Cascades can expect the most significant snowfall totals on Sunday with a pulse of organized precipitation riding NNE over these regions during the day. Models diverge regarding the strength of this pulse of moisture on Sunday. For the passes and east slopes of the Cascades, precipitation should be mostly light with 1-4”, but we will have to watch the potential for steadier accumulations and more significant snow totals for the Eastern and Southern Cascades if models come into agreement regarding this wetter solution.