A weak occluded front is rotating up from northern Oregon this morning. This weather feature will spread light snow over Mt Hood this morning and eventually up to the southern and central WA Cascades later today, with drier conditions further north. Snowfall amounts will be in the 1-4" range today. Clouds will slowly thicken as the frontal band rotates up today and we expect some filtered sunshine to hang on for areas closer to the Canadian border through this afternoon.
The bigger story will be the wind and the continued cold temperatures. Strong E-SE winds will rake the central and southern WA Cascades and Mt Hood, although all areas will be impacted. Winds will begin to back off from the peak mid-day. Single digits and below zero temperatures are widespread once again this morning, with warmer temperatures further west of the Cascade crest and the Olympics. For the Mt Hood area, near the Cascade crest and along the east slopes of the Cascades, expect dangerously low wind chill values today - layer up appropriately.
The low pressure complex will shift inland Thursday night and will bring renewed light snow to the Mt Hood area with lighter snow showers further north. The flow will become westerly on Friday, with light showers mainly along the west slopes of the Cascades and Mt Hood. The change in wind direction will also allow a slight moderation in temperatures with snow levels bumping up to 1000-2000' across our area.
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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Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a chance of snow in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then cloudy with light snow developing in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with periods of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine in the morning, then light snow developing before mid-day. Strong to extreme ridgeline winds easing somewhat in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with periods of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then cloudy with very light snow developing in the afternoon. Moderate to strong E Pass level and ESE ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with periods of light snow. Light to moderate E Pass level and ESE ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then cloudy with very light snow developing in the afternoon. Strong E Pass level and ESE ridgeline winds easing somewhat in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with periods of light snow. Light to moderate E Pass level and ESE ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a chance of snow in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then cloudy with snow developing in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Partly sunny with filtered sunshine in the morning, then cloudy with snow developing late morning. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Thursday
Cloudy with snow developing this morning. Strong to extreme ridgeline winds easing somewhat in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with light snow. Light to 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).