A surface low on the backside of an upper-level trough tracked across the Strait of Juan de Fuca overnight and is dissipating as it crosses east of the Cascades today. The low tracked a bit further north than forecast overnight with the result being more snow for the northwest Cascades including the Mt Baker area overnight. Showers have largely cut-off for the north Cascades this morning and will stay focused on the Mtn Loop Hwy and south to the Mt Hood area through the early afternoon. Westerly ridgeline winds will be strong from about I-90 and south today. Expect a fair amount of spillover with the showers east of the Crest for these same areas. The Cascade Passes saw their winds shift to West early this morning and milder Pacific air is mixing in. Snow levels across the area will be in the 4000-4500' range today.
Even as showers taper off this afternoon and evening, we will see very little break in the action as a warm front begins to lift north across the area late tonight and tomorrow. Expect a few hours of light to locally moderate precipitation late tonight and Friday morning with the south and the central Cascades seeing a potential "dry" window late morning-mid-day Friday. The associated cold front should reach the Washington Coast by Friday afternoon. Temperatures and snow levels will be on the rise Friday as warm air is advected into the region.
Note: 5000' Temperatures delayed this morning
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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Thursday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, overcast in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow developing overnight.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, overcast in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow developing overnight.
Thursday
Light to moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming scattered in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Light to moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming scattered in the afternoon. Showers heaviest Paradise and White Pass areas in the morning.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow, occasionally moderate Paradise area.
Thursday
Moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming scattered in the afternoon. Moderate west winds at Pass level.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Moderate to occasionally heavy rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming scattered in the afternoon. Moderate west winds at Pass level.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, overcast in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming isolated in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming isolated in the afternoon.
Thursday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Thursday
Moderate rain and snow showers in the morning, showers becoming scattered in the afternoon. Very windy.
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).