A weak frontal system moved through last night, dropping several inches of snow across the mountains above 2000-3000'. Storm totals were in the 2-6" range, with the Mt Baker area and parts of the West Central, including the Mt Loop, up to 10". Showers have already become more scattered this morning, a downward trend that will continue today. The Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit may pick up another few inches, with lower amounts elsewhere. Temperatures have cooled, especially at higher elevations. Make sure to pack a few extra layers if traveling above treeline or higher on the volcanoes. It's a frigid 7F at Camp Muir this morning and in the upper teens closer to 7000ft.
An upper level trough digging offshore will spin up a new system today in the form of a warm front. This will have two impacts: 1. Light rain and snow will move into the Mt Hood area during the afternoon hours, and 2. A cloud shield will push northward from Oregon into much of Washington today. The exception will be on the NW periphery, from about Hwy 2 on the west side and northward, including the Olympics, where there may be periods of broken sunshine Saturday afternoon.
The warm front will lift north of the Columbia River overnight, likely bringing a quick 1-2" of snow to the south WA Cascades as well as Mt Hood, with light snow perhaps as far north as I-90. On Sunday, the upper level trough pulls further offshore and the PNW is stuck between large scale weather patterns. The details around cloud coverare still a bit murky. Right now, it appears that light precipitation may linger into the morning hours from those same southern areas and the central and southern Cascades are likely to see a fair bit of low clouds hang around during the day.
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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Saturday
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers and sunbreaks. Light ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Light ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered snow showers this morning, then mostly cloudy with sunbreaks in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds, highest this morning.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Light ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered snow showers this morning, then mostly cloudy with sunbreaks in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Light ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered snow showers this morning, then overcast. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered snow showers this morning, then mostly cloudy with sunbreaks in the afternoon. Light W winds at Pass level. Light to occasionally moderate SW ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with a slight chance of light snow. Light E winds at Pass level. Light to occasionally moderate SE ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered snow showers this morning, then overcast. Light W winds at Pass level. Light to occasionally moderate SW ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with a chance of light snow. Light E winds at Pass level. Light to occasionally moderate SE ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers this morning, then mostly cloudy with sunbreaks in the afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy. Light ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers this morning, then overcast. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers this morning, then overcast. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers this morning, then light rain and snow developing late afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow. 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).