It's a messy 2nd day of 2026 with mild southerly flow aloft and cool easterly flow through the Passes spitting out freezing rain around the major Passes and in areas along the eastern slope of the Cascasdes, especially south of Hwy2. Temperatures are generally warmer further west of the Cascade crest resulting in a higher snow-line. Showers are generally heaviest from Hwy 2 and south to Mt Hood this morning.
The good news is that precipitation will become lighter this afternoon as a system pulls away. The bad news is that we will see another system in southerly flow lift a weak warm front northward tonight. Snow levels will likely come down for the East Central and East North zones while staying mild elsewhere. Continued cool low-level easterly flow will maintain a chance of freezing rain in the Passes, although Stevens should switch back to light snow Friday night.
On Saturday, we'll have another messy system on tap with more moderate precipitation west of the crest and lighter precipitation in the Passes. Although precipitation will be light, spotty freezing rain is still possible in the Passes, and later in the day along the east slopes of the Cascades generally near and south of I-90 later as the winds flip from S-SE to SW along ridgelines.
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 with a few scattered showers, mainly this morning. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and high-elevation snow developing overnight. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a few scattered showers, mainly this morning. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and high-elevation snow developing overnight. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate showers this morning, then chance of light showers in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate showers this morning, then chance of light showers in the afternoon. Freezing rain near White Pass in the morning. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow, or freezing rain near White Pass. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate showers this morning, then chance of light showers in the afternoon. Freezing rain at Pass level in the morning. Light to moderate SW ridgeline winds. Light E winds at Pass level.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain, snow, or freezing rain. Light to moderate S-SE ridgeline winds. Light to moderate E winds at Pass level.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate showers this morning, then chance of light showers in the afternoon. Freezing rain at Pass level in the morning. Light to moderate SW ridgeline winds. Light E winds at Pass level.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain, snow, or freezing rain. Light to moderate S-SE ridgeline winds. Light to moderate E winds at Pass level.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light rain and snow showers this morning, then partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light rain and snow showers this morning, then partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light rain and snow showers this morning, then partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers this morning, then chance of light showers in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or 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).