Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

It's groundhog Day weather-wise with little change forecast through Friday morning. We're on the backside of a broad upper level trough stretching over much of the country.  While the jet stream is positioned further north into British Columbia, strong W-NW winds have extended well south of the border, especially impacting the WA Cascades. West winds will increase with elevation. If you're planning to poke into the alpine on the highest peaks and volcanoes, be prepared for relentless blustery winds through Friday afternoon. Winds will be strongest along the eastern slopes of the Cascades, with extreme gusts at times, and all areas will see winds tick up a notch tonight into Friday. 

Low clouds will continue to blow in roughly near and north of I-90, with a few inches of snow for the western slopes of the Cascades in Whatcom down to Snohomish County through Friday morning. Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass will see some light snow at times as well. Showers will become even lighter and more scattered Friday afternoon.

The light showers will fade out along with the low clouds the further south you move, eventually transitioning to clearer skies south of the Columbia River. The low-level moisture is just that, low, and the clouds will be even thinner on Friday, so expect additional higher terrain other than just the southern volcanoes to pop out from the clouds. Along the eastern slopes, cloudier conditions, along with a chance of a shower, are possible near the Crest, north of I-90, with generally clearer, drier conditions farther east and south.  Milder air will continue to slowly work into the southern areas, including Mt Hood, the south WA Cascades, and the southern Olympics on Saturday. 

Low clouds along the portions of the west slopes should clear out on Saturday as the westerly winds finally relent and the upper level trough loosens its grip over our region. We should see mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures, well above trailheads for central and southern areas.  The Mt Hood area will likely see some high clouds/filtered sun that may impact the south WA Cascades as well.