It was a stormy night across much of the forecast area, but the main front has pushed east. A few lingering convergence bands continue to bring snow mainly to locations from Snoqualmie Pass to the Mountain Loop Highway. Any showers should quickly draw to a close this morning as a subtle ridge shifts over the region. This will give us 12-18 hrs of relative calm before a major storm arrives overnight.
On Saturday, most locations will start mostly cloudy, breezy, and with a few showers. As showers end, winds should drop, and you could even see some filtered sunshine or sunbreaks. The best chance for enjoying some sunshine will be near Hurricane Ridge and in locations further south and east in the region. High and mid clouds will start to increase late in the day as the next storm arrives on our doorstep.
An atmospheric river will take aim at the Pacific Northwest. Weather models have been shifting this feature further and further south, increasing its impact on our forecast zones. Rain and snow start for most locations late Saturday night along with increasing winds and warming temperatures. By Sunday morning, the fire hose is squarely aimed at the Olympics and Central Washington Cascades. Expect very stormy conditions with heavy rain, gusty winds, and freezing levels quickly rising to upper elevations. Because atmospheric rivers are so narrow, a shift in the main precipitation band north or south could have a big influence on how much precipitation falls and just how warm it gets.
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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Saturday
Partly cloudy in the morning with a few very isolated sprinkles possible. Clouds increasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. SW winds becoming moderate and gusty.
Saturday
Cloudy with occasional snow showers mainly in the morning. Some filtered sun or sun breaks possible in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. Moderate and gusty SSW winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with showers mainly in the morning. Heaviest under a convergence band. Some filtered sunshine possible in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. SW winds becoming moderate and gusty.
Saturday
Cloudy with a few isolated showers possible in the morning. Filtered sunshine and sunbreaks possible in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Heaviest on Mt Rainier. Warming. Moderate and gusty SW winds.
Saturday
Cloudy in the morning with a few showers. Filtered sunshine and sunbreaks possible in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. Light to moderate W winds.
Saturday
Cloudy in the morning with a few showers possible. Filtered sunshine and sunbreaks possible in the afternoon. Moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. Light to moderate W winds.
Saturday
Partly cloudy with a few showers possible mainly in the morning. Light to moderate W winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with precipitation developing overnight. Winds becoming WSW light to moderate.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy in the morning with a few showers. Moderate to strong and gusty WNW winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. W winds becoming moderate and gusty.
Saturday
Partly cloudy with filtered sunshine and significant sun breaks. Moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. W winds becoming moderate and gusty.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with showers mainly in the morning. Filtered sunshine and sunbreaks in the afternoon. Strong and gusty W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Warming. W winds becoming strong and gusty.
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).