An offshore trough continues to feed warmth and moisture into the Pacific Northwest. Most of the cold-air pool east of the Cascade Crest has been scoured out, with subfreezing temperatures at higher elevations and in the Methow Valley.
A warm front lifted north into Canada Thursday night, leaving the Pacific Northwest in the warm sector early Friday. A band of moderate precipitation associated with the trailing cold front drags eastward through the Olympics early Friday, then into the Cascades from mid-morning through the afternoon hours. The front is weakening as the heaviest moisture lifts north into Canada, but Mt Baker should be able to wring out some 0.1-0.2" per hour precipitation rates with moderate to occasionally strong ridgeline SSW winds.
Behind the front, expect decreasing light rain and higher elevation snow showers Friday evening with WSW winds and negligible cooling. Moderate ridgeline winds east of the Cascade Crest will further scour cold air in areas like the Methow Valley. Mostly dry weather continues overnight into early Saturday. A weak warm front brushes NW Washington with some light rain and higher elevation snow lifting NE from the Mt Rainier area in the morning through the north Cascades in the afternoon. Expect dry weather and mostly cloudy skies to expand in areas south of I-90 throughout the day. Snow levels rise to 6500-7500 ft with freezing levels further south approaching 9000 ft.
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 light rain and higher-elevation snow for the northern Olympics (moderate to heavy elsewhere) decrease late in the day.
Friday
Night
A few showers are possible in the early evening, then it will be mostly cloudy.
Friday
Cloudy early, then heavy rain and high elevation snow arrive by mid-morning. Moderate ridgeline winds may become strong at times in the mid-day hours.
Friday
Night
Decreasing light rain and higher elevation snow showers.
Friday
Cloudy early, then moderate rain and high elevation snow arrive by mid-morning. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Decreasing light rain and higher elevation snow showers.
Friday
Cloudy early, then moderate rain and high elevation snow arrive by mid-morning. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Decreasing light rain and higher elevation snow showers.
Friday
Cloudy early, then moderate rain and high elevation snow arrive by mid-morning. Mostly light ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Light rain and higher elevation snow showers taper or end. Light to moderate ridgeline winds. Light W winds shift E at the Pass overnight.
Friday
Cloudy early, then moderate rain and high elevation snow arrive by mid-morning. Mostly light ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Friday
Night
Light rain and higher elevation snow showers taper or end. Moderate ridgeline winds. Light W winds shift E at the Pass overnight.
Friday
Cloudy early, then light to moderate rain and higher elevation snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Light rain and snow showers mainly during the evening hours. Decreasing light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy early, then light rain and higher elevation snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Light rain and snow showers mainly during the evening hours. Decreasing moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy early, then light rain and higher elevation snow. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Night
Light rain and snow showers mainly during the evening hours. Decreasing moderate ridgeline winds.
Friday
Cloudy until late morning, then light rain and higher elevation snow. 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).