There's a sharp change in the weather this morning from south to north across the region. Light rain and snow from a warm front over the Mt Hood area to just south of I-90 gives way to clear skies north of that boundary, which includes Hwy2 and the Stevens Pass area. For areas to the north, including the Olymipcs, we'll see mostly sunny skies today. The steady precipitation will taper off this morning for southern areas, but the low-level clouds will likely remain trapped for the day, preventing a full breakout. A weak upper level trough in the afternoon may kick off some light snow showers for the same southern areas as well.
Overnight, a cold upper-level trough will approach from the NW. In advance, we may see another round of stratiform, or steady, precipitation along an old frontal boundary draped over the south Washington to northern Oregon. Expect another round of light rain and snow for Mt Hood, with uncertainty if that precipitation extends northward into Washington.
On Monday, showers and much colder air will approach with the upper trough from the NW. We should see snow showers with low snow levels move into the Olympics and the northwest Cascades during the day, with less certainty about whether the showers progress inland into the rest of the Cascades by 4pm. This weather feature will bring showery and colder temperatures to the region heading into mid-week.
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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Sunday
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear, then becoming mostly cloudy overnight. Ligth to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear, then becoming mostly cloudy overnight. Ligth to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly to mostly sunny north of Hwy 2, partly to mostly cloudy south of Hwy 2 with a chance of light rain or snow showers. Light ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear, then becoming mostly cloudy overnight. Ligth to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Cloudy with light snow this morning, then mostly cloudy with a chance of light rain or snow showers this afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of evening light rain or snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly cloudy this morning, becoming partly to mostly cloudy this afternoon. Light winds at Pass level, light SE winds at ridgeline.
Sunday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of evening light rain or snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Cloudy this morning with a chance of light snow, then mostly cloudy this afternoon with a chance of light rain or snow showers. Light winds at Pass level, light SE winds at ridgeline.
Sunday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of evening light rain or snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Mostly sunny. Light ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly clear in the evening, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds overnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Partly to mostly sunny north of Hwy 2, partly to mostly cloudy south of Hwy 2 with a chance of light rain or snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Partly cloudy in the evening, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds overnight. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Cloudy with periods of light snow this morning, then partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of light rain or snow showers this afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Mostly cloudy in the evening, then cloudy after midnight with a chance of light rain or snow. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Cloudy with periods of light snow this morning, then partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of light rain or snow showers this afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Sunday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain or 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).