It's quite mild out there with mountain temperatures in the 40s and 50s(!) this morning. A storm system aimed into central British Columbia is draped over the area, with high clouds thick for central and northern areas, and patchier for the southern WA Cascades and northern Oregon. Strong upper level ridging will lift north today, pushing that high cloud out of the area and leading to a clearing trend. This will result in periods of filtered sunshine in the north and more sunshine further south. Low clouds were pushed back last night by a burst of westerly winds, but have not scoured out. Look for the stratus to hang tough, although a bit thinner along the east slopes of the Cascades and to push back and forth in the Cascade Passes.
Freezing levels are high, and will stay in the 11,000-12,500' range through Thursday. 5000' temperatures will push into the mid 50s west of the Cascade crest, Olympics and Mt Hood and close to 50F at the Passes and along the east slopes of the Cascades today. Moderate winds will be seen for northern areas, the Olympics and areas affected by strong offshore flow.
Wednesday night and Thursday will be mostly clear with some high clouds. Look for clouds and areas of fog along the east slopes of the Cascades and Passes. Temperatures at 5000' could push close to 60F in parts of the western Cascades. Another change for tomorrow will be a slight uptick in breezy SE ridgeline winds for most areas.
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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Wednesday
Overcast this morning, becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with filtered sunshine. Moderate to occasionally strong ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Overcast this morning, becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with filtered sunshine. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Overcast this morning, becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with filtered sunshine. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Overcast this morning, then clearing and becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. Patchy low clouds near and east of White Pass. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Cloudy this morning with a mix of low clouds and high overcast. Partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with periods of filtered sunshine and patchy low clouds near and east of the Pass. Light to moderate east winds at Pass level and SSE at ridgeline.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds, areas of low clouds and fog near the Pass. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate east winds at Pass level and SE at ridgeline.
Wednesday
Cloudy this morning with a mix of low clouds and high overcast. Partly to mostly cloudy this afternoon with periods of filtered sunshine and areas of low clouds near and east of the Pass. Moderate east winds at Pass level and SSE at ridgeline.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds, areas of low clouds and fog near the Pass. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Moderate east winds at Pass level and SE at ridgeline.
Wednesday
Overcast this morning, becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with filtered sunshine. Areas of low clouds and valley fog persist all day. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds, areas of low clouds and valley fog. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Overcast this morning, then clearing and becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with filtered sunshine. Areas of low clouds and valley fog persist all day. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds, areas of low clouds and valley fog. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy this morning with broken high clouds, then clearing and becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. Areas of low clouds and valley fog persist all day. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly clear with a few high clouds, areas of low clouds and valley fog. Milder upper slopes, cooler lower slopes and valleys. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy this morning with broken high clouds, then clearing and becoming mostly sunny mid-day. Light to occasionally 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).