We're in for a mild and mostly sunny day in the mountains with a strong ridge of high pressure in control. Persistent W-NW ridgeline winds have becoming lighter over the northern and central WA Cascades with just plain light winds further south. Look for mid-mountain temperatures in the 40s and even 50s today with sunshine. Steeper inversions with colder low-elevation temperatures can be found along the east slopes of the Cascades, especially near and north of Hwy2. A low stratus cloud deck over eastern WA is getting pulled up to Snoqualmie Pass but should stay east of the higher Passes like Stevens and White.
The upper level ridge over the area will flatten tonight as a frontal system begins to slide south. Unfortunately, this system is moisture starved and won't bring much in the way of snow by the time it arrives on Thursday. We'll see light snow develop Thursday morning along the west slopes of the Cascades near and north of I-90 where we may see 1-2" of snow before sunset. We'll see a trace to nothing for areas not far east of the crest or further south. While there's a better chance you'll see cloudy conditions along the west slopes of the Cascades on Thursday, near and south of I-90, there could be patchy freezing drizzle instead of light snow. Finally, this system will feature a quick ramp up in westerly winds Wednesday night, becoming strong on Thursday.
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
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline winds becoming light to moderate after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Areas of low clouds east of the Pass. Light to occasionally moderate WNW ridgeline winds. Light east winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline W winds becoming moderate after midnight. Light E winds becoming W at Pass level after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Areas of low clouds near and especially east of the Pass. Light to moderate WNW ridgeline winds. Light east winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Light ridgeline W winds becoming moderate after midnight. Light E winds becoming W at Pass level after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate to occasionally strong after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate to occasionally strong after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with occasional high clouds. Areas of low clouds and fog lower slopes and valleys. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear. Light ridgeline winds becoming moderate 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).