Low clouds banked up against the west slopes of the Cascades north of I-90 to the Canadian border will breakup later this morning with low-level moisture clearing out of our region. However, an upper low pressure system off the California coast will spread high cloud up from the south, thickest over the south Washington Cascades and especially near Mt Hood, where conditions may bounce between a high overcast and filtered sunshine. Other areas will see fewer high clouds throughout the day as well.
Freezing levels will be warm today, warmest in the south (9000') and coolest over northern areas (5500-6500') closer to an exiting upper level trough. Westerly winds will continue to decrease this morning with a much lighter WNW breeze forecast for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday night and Sunday will be more of the same with mild, benign weather forecast. The upper low off of California will continue to spread high clouds up through Oregon and near the Washington border. A stray shower may sneak into Mt. Hood on Sunday afternoon, with dry conditions elsewhere.
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 sunny with a few high clouds. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with periods of high clouds. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with areas of low clouds and isolated light showers this morning, then mostly sunny with a few high clouds. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy with areas of low clouds and isolated light showers this morning, then mostly sunny with a few high clouds. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Partly to mostly sunny with periods of high clouds and filtered sunshine. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Areas of low clouds this morning, then mostly sunny with a few high clouds. Light to occasionally moderate WNW ridgeline winds. Light Pass level 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).