Before high pressure takes control of the weather pattern, a weak weather disturbance will slide down over the area today in northerly flow aloft. This should keep low clouds lingering along with a few light showers for the west slopes of the Cascades, the Passes and the Mt Hood area with sunnier conditions for the Olympics and east slopes of the Cascades. The aforementioned upper level disturbance will also cause a shift from NW to NE or E winds later this afternoon and evening before turning back to NW later tonight. We can expect period of moderate ridgeline winds, approaching strong near the Canadian border near and east of the Cascade crest.
The upper level ridge will begin to exert more influence over the area late Sunday night through Monday. Look for freezing levels to rise and mid-mountain temperatures to warm. While the freezing level bump will be eye-catching, mid and upper mountain temperatures will not sky rocket, this will be a slow warming trend.
Weather Forecast
Olympics
West North
West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
Use dropdown to select your zone
Sunday
Partly to mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny. Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly to mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow showers. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow showers. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow showers. Periods of moderate NE ridgeline winds this afternoon. Light W winds at Pass level.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate NW ridgeline winds. Light and variable winds at Pass level.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow showers. Periods of moderate NE ridgeline winds this afternoon. Light W winds at Pass level.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate NW ridgeline winds. Light and variable winds at Pass level.
Sunday
Partly to mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny. Moderate ridgeline winds increasing this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly to mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds this afternoon.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly to mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly sunny this morning, becoming mostly cloudy late morning with a chance of light rain or snow showers.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear. Periods of 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).