A cold upper trough off the central British Columbia coast will rotate scattered snow showers over our region for the next 48 hours. Snow showers will be heaviest over the Olympics, the northwest Cascades from Snohomoish County to the Canadian border. Showers will also become more widespread with the potential for a heavier snowfall rates each afternoon and evening. We'll have a cold, unstable air mass overhead and just a little bit of daytime heating will help spark additional shower activity each day. Even though the precipitation forecast numbers may seem pedestrian by PNW standards, this cold air mass will efficiently squeeze out low-density snow. Expect a few inches to accumulate each 12 hr period, with the higher totals near and west of the Cascade crest, over the Olympics, and the south/west side of Mt Hood.
Moderate to strong westerly ridgleine winds will slowly ease today through Sunday. This will be some of the coldest weather we've seen this winter. Mid-mountain temperatures will struggle to reach the low 20s each afternoon and you're likely to encounter lower teens and single digits at higher elevations.
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
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon. More showers Paradise/St Helens/White Pass area, fewer showers Crystal area. Strong ridgeline winds becoming moderate in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon. Strong ridgeline W winds becoming moderate in the afternoon. Moderate W winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Moderate ridgeline W winds, light W winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon. Strong ridgeline W winds becoming moderate in the afternoon. Moderate W winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Moderate ridgeline W winds, light W winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon near the Cascade crest. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening especially near the Cascade crest, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon near the Cascade crest. Strong ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening especially near the Cascade crest, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon near the Cascade crest. Strong ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening especially near the Cascade crest, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with light scattered snow showers in the morning, then light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon. Heavier showers possible west side of the mountain. Strong ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the evening, then showers becoming more scattered late evening. 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).