A deep trough off the west coast of the US will continue to send the brunt of the storm track toward California. Waves of more organized, but generally light, snowfall continue to rotate NNE over our region on the downstream side of the trough. One of these features brought 10" of snow to Paradise, 9" of snow to Mt. Hood Meadows, 7" of snow to Mission Ridge, and 6" of snow to Crystal Mountain, with 0-4" recorded at other NWAC stations. With temperatures in the teens to mid-20's, the snow came in at high snow-to-water ratios.
Temperatures should remain cool on Wednesday as a band of snow continues to rotate NE across the region, focusing light to occasionally moderate snow slightly more on the central and north Cascades, particularly the east slopes due to the light E flow. Most areas should see decreasing chances of snowfall by the afternoon.
With the trough still in place offshore, another wave moves in with a weak surface circulation center and another round of light to occasionally moderate snow overnight. S and SE winds should pick up into the light to occasionally moderate range with this feature. Temperatures remain cold.
On Thursday, the energy associated with the offshore trough focuses increasingly on California, leaving our region with a chance of light snow flurries with more cool weather.
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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Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with snow flurries in the morning, then becoming partly cloudy by afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Light to occasionally moderate snow, decreasing or tapering off in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Periods of light snow tapering off by early afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Periods of light to occasionally moderate snow tapering off by early afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light to occasionally moderate snow.
Wednesday
Periods of light snow tapering off by early afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Periods of light snow tapering off by early afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Light to occasionally moderate snow tapering off late in the day.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light snow.
Wednesday
Light to occasionally moderate snow tapering off by mid-afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Periods of light to occasionally moderate snow.
Wednesday
Light to occasionally moderate snow tapering off by early afternoon.
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).