We're in for a period of high pressure and quiet weather an upper level ridge centered offshore extends over the southern half of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. That doesn't mean we won't have a few caveats to go along with the dry weather. Cloud cover-wise we'll have a band of high clouds passing through this morning (along with localized areas of fog) giving way to mostly sunny skies late morning through early afternoon. Then some high clouds will filter back in for the afternoon before sunset over WA state.
Freezing levels are on the rise, but while this ridge of high pressure will usher in milder weather, closer to the Canadian border especially for the West North zone, freezing levels will be slower to rise today and even on Tuesday. Temperatures will hew closely to the freezing mark today and you'll find deeper inversions and colder temps below 5500' for Stevens Pass and along the east slopes of the Cascades in general.
With the upper level ridge somewhat flattened and waves of moisture passing into northern B.C., all areas we'll see moderate NW ridgeline winds for good chunks of time that approach strong if you climb in elevation into the alpine.
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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Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Partly to mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Partly to mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Partly to mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds at Pass level. Moderate NW ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light W winds at Pass level. Moderate NW ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds at Pass level. Moderate NW ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light W winds at Pass level. Moderate NW ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Partly to mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day, then occasional high clouds in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Monday
Mostly cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny mid-day. Light to moderate ridgeline winds increasing in the afternoon.
Monday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds decreasing 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).