Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

High clouds and mild temperatures throughout the forecast area this morning, with very mild temperature inversions at the passes and near the crest. That high cloud cover may burn off just a bit in the morning hours, especially south of I-90 and on the east side of the range, allowing for some filtered sunshine or sunbreaks at times. Regardless of the sun, temperatures will climb well above seasonal norms today, topping out in the upper 40's and low 50's. An upper-level ridge is shifting east as the next frontal system sits offshore, making its way toward the coast. Lingering easterly winds will dissipate in the early afternoon as the cold front nears, bringing with it increasing cloud cover and breezy southwesterly winds. The Olympics, West North, and West Central zones may see heavier precipitation before the end of the day, while the rest of the zones stay mostly out of the action until 4 or 5 pm. The front is narrow, linear, and fast-moving, and it brings a very slight chance of thunder to the West North late this afternoon.

Snow levels will remain in the 5500-7000ft range for the bulk of the precipitation, before temperatures plummet after frontal passage. This means only the highest elevations will see snow accumulations out of this system, and even there, totals should be modest. The exception will be areas favored by a convergence zone forming in the evening and overnight. As of now, models place the zone somewhere between the West Central and the West North, but things will come into more focus this afternoon. Whatever does squeeze out from the convergence should be all snow as levels drop toward 3000ft by Friday morning.

Friday things stay cool but mostly dry as we wait for a trough offshore to shift overhead late in the day and overnight into Saturday. A stray snow shower, but otherwise cool temperatures with clouds and occasional sunbreaks.