A stable stretch of weather will dominate Friday through Saturday, with dry conditions and plenty of sunshine in the mountains. An atypically strong offshore ridge of high pressure will remain firmly in place, steering Pacific storms well to the north and keeping our region locked into this quiet pattern into early next week.
Freezing levels will stay unusually high for late winter, hovering between 11,000 and 13,000 feet. Temperatures at most NWAC stations dropped into the 30s and low 40s, but deeper valley locations in the Methow have dropped into the 10s with a strong inversion in place. These inversions exist throughout the eastern Cascades, but diminish in strength as you go southward. Daytime temperatures at mid elevations will climb into the mid to upper 40s near and east of the Cascade crest, while locations west of the crest—including the Olympics and Mt. Hood—will see highs reaching the 50s both days. Despite the warmth aloft, cold air trapped beneath temperature inversions will allow overnight and early-morning lows to dip to near or below freezing in valley bottoms and at Pass level. Washington Pass is expected to remain the coldest location during this period.
Offshore easterly flow will persist through the weekend, producing occasional gusty east winds in the Passes and along exposed ridgelines. This has pulled low cloud through the Snoqualmie Pass corridor early Friday. This low cloud may persist much of the day. Higher Passes should largely keep cloud cover confined to their eastern approaches. Any low clouds encountered at lower elevations should give way quickly to warmer, sunnier, and much drier conditions with elevation gain.
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
Sunny and unseasonably warm. Inversions and patchy valley fog in the morning.
Friday
Night
Clear and mild. Patchy valley fog.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm.
Friday
Night
Clear and mild.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm.
Friday
Night
Clear and mild.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm. Moderate ridgeline winds are localized to areas near the Cascade Crest.
Friday
Night
Clear and mild. Moderate ridgeline winds are localized to areas near the Cascade Crest.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm with a temperature inversion. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline and light E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Clear and unseasonably mild with a temperature inversion. Low cloud below 3500 ft. Light to moderate ridgeline and light E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm with a temperature inversion. Low cloud below 3500 ft may or may not burn off by mid-day. Moderate ridgeline and light to moderate E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Clear and unseasonably mild with a temperature inversion. Low cloud below 3500 ft. Moderate ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm at higher elevations with a strong temperature inversion and cold air at lower elevations moderating during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Clear and unseasonably mild at higher elevations with cooler air at lower elevations and in valleys.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm at higher elevations with a temperature inversion and cooler air at lower elevations moderating during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Clear and unseasonably mild at higher elevations with cooler air at lower elevations and in valleys.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm at higher elevations with a temperature inversion and cooler air at lower elevations warming during the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Clear and unseasonably mild at higher elevations with cooler air at lower elevations and in valleys.
Friday
Sunny and unseasonably warm at higher elevations with a temperature inversion and cooler air at lower elevations moderating during the mid-day hours.
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).