The front that brought our atmospheric river remains draped over the region and is drifting northward Friday through Friday night. The front is associated with a moist lower atmosphere, light to moderate ridgeline W or WSW winds, and a boundary between mild air to the north and unseasonably warm air to the south.
Periods of light rain and drizzle should generally end around Mt Rainier during the morning hours, with light precipitation continuing further north on Friday. Thanks to the depth of the moisture, some of that precipitation will continue to spill onto the east slopes of the Cascades. An inversion is likely to continue to bring some freezing rain or freezing drizzle to Washington Pass. Precipitation gradually decreases and ends by Saturday morning as winds ease overnight. A ridge of high pressure expands into the region on Saturday, pushing all precipitation north of the Canadian border, but leaving plenty of clouds over much of Washington State, particularly northern areas. Freezing levels will be in the 9000-12000 ft range on Saturday...truly balmy.
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
Friday
Occasional light rain and more persistent drizzle, particularly in the western Olympics.
Friday
Night
Cloudy in the eastern Olympics with some very light rain lingering in the western part.
Friday
Persistent drizzle with periods of light rain and high elevation snow.
Friday
Night
Decreasing occasional light rain and higher elevation snow.
Friday
Persistent drizzle with periods of light rain and high elevation snow.
Friday
Night
Decreasing periods of light rain or drizzle.
Friday
Periods of light rain or drizzle mostly ending by the afternoon, then remaining cloudy.
Friday
Night
Mostly cloudy with light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Persistent drizzle with periods of light rain at times. Increasing light to moderate ridgeline and light W wind at the Pass
Friday
Night
Decreasing periods of light rain or drizzle. Decreasing light to moderate ridgeline and light W wind at the Pass.
Friday
Persistent drizzle with periods of light rain at times. Increasing light to moderate ridgeline and mostly light W wind at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Decreasing periods of light rain or drizzle. Decreasing light to moderate ridgeline and light W wind at the Pass.
Friday
Periods of light rain, freezing rain, and highest elevation snow. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Mostly cloudy with occasional drizzle or freezing drizzle in the early evening. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Decreasing periods of light rain and drizzle. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Mostly cloudy with occasional drizzle in the early 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).