A weak frontal system will stall as it pushes into SW Washington and western Oregon today, lifting some light showers into the Mt Hood area and the West South zone. Areas like Mt St Helens should pick up a few more inches of snow from showers than areas further north and west. The rest of us will enjoy a short-lived break in what's been an active mid-March weather pattern. Variable cloud cover should allow for some sunny periods and fittered sunshine for the central and northern WA Cascades from midday through the afternoon with more cloud cover further south.
The frontal boundary will get a boost tonight as a longwave upper level trough increases shower activity and pushes the boundary through the Cascades Saturday morning. Look for increasing showers late tonight with heavier showers Saturday morning. Showers will continue through the afternoon but may become scattered in some areas. With the frontal passage, we'll see strong W-SW winds develop over the area starting mid-morning.
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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Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, then scattered light rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate E and SE Pass and ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to moderate E and SE Pass and ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to moderate E and SE Pass and ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to moderate E and SE Pass and ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow developing after midnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, then scattered light rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with moderate rain and snow developing in the evening. Moderate to strong 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).