Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis for Thursday & Sunday

A dry warm front lifted north of the region Wednesday night and lingers near the Canadian Border through the day Thursday, leaving the Pacific Northwest in the warm sector of the system. Temperatures are mild west of the Cascade Crest, having warmed 10F over the past 24 hours in the Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, and Hurricane areas. A cold front slowly approaches from the west with increasing SSW winds. High and mid-level clouds should cover much of the region with filtered sunshine today before lowering as the precipitation approaches. East gradients are battling the upper-level winds, so E flow through some of the passes should switch westerly by late morning, allowing the warmer air to push into the passes and east slopes of the Cascades. Light rain and snow should reach Olympics by late morning, spilling over to Hurricane Ridge by the early afternoon, and then the Mt. Baker area. Light frontal precipitation which may mix with rain at Mt Baker base before the snow levels gradually lower.

The front continues to drift slowly ESE through the region Thursday night as a trough continues to dig offshore. The bulk of the front's limited moisture falls Thursday night. Areas favored by the SSW flow such as Mt. Baker and Paradise pick up the most moisture (0.5-75") while the central Cascades passes only pick up .25" of water overnight and snow levels lowering to Snoqualmie Pass level by Friday morning. Precipitation should reach the Mt. Hood area by the early morning hours on Friday which should receive the bulk of the light rain and snow on Friday should be relatively dry over Washington State with continued gradual cooling and a slight chance of snow showers in the Washington Cascades with the more unstable air and most snow shower activity remaining offshore.