A low pressure centered just off the tip of the Olympic Peninsula this morning will pass overhead today and create snow showers for locations near and west of the Cascade crest. Mountains further east might see a few stray flurries, but should stay relatively dry and could even experience a few sunbreaks. With temperatures this morning in the low 20s and teens across the region, even modest water amounts could turn into an inch or two of snow.
Westly winds and plenty of low-level moisture should help ring out a few more snow showers overnight and into Wednesday morning, however, this time period will be a relative break ahead of our next storm. A stronger low-pressure system approaches the area from the NW on Wednesday, with the center of the low on track to pass near the WA/OR border overnight. Precipitation should lift from SW to NE in the afternoon with our southern volcanoes seeing the brunt of the action. Some uncertainty still remains about the timing of this storm and how far north the snow will travel before sunset. However, most locations will, at the very least, see a marked increase in wind speeds and cloud cover as the storm makes its way toward our region.
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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Tuesday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers. Light SW winds.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with isolated snow showers. SW winds become S and increase significantly overnight.
Tuesday
Cloudy with snow showers. Moderate to strong S winds decrease slightly in the afternoon.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with snow showers. Moderate S winds increase and become strong overnight.
Tuesday
Cloudy with snow showers. Moderate SW winds.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with snow showers. Moderate SW winds.
Tuesday
Cloudy with snow showers, heaviest near Mt Rainier. Moderate WSW winds, with higher wind speeds near the crest.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with snow showers, heaviest near Mt Rainier. Light to moderate WSW winds.
Tuesday
Cloudy with isolated snow showers. Light W winds.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with isolated snow showers. Light W winds. Easterly flow developing at Pass level overnight.
Tuesday
Cloudy with snow showers. Light to occasionally moderate W winds.
Tuesday
Night
Cloudy with isolated snow showers. Light W winds. Easterly flow developing at Pass level.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with a few stray flurries possible. Light W winds.
Tuesday
Night
Mostly cloudy with a few stray flurries possible. Light WSW winds.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with a few sun breaks, particularly further east. Isolated flurries are possible with snow showers closer to the crest. Light to moderate W winds decrease slightly in the afternoon.
Tuesday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers possible near the crest. Light to moderate W winds decreasing and becoming SW.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Moderate W winds decrease slightly in the afternoon.
Tuesday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Light to moderate W winds become SW and decrease.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Moderate to strong W winds.
Tuesday
Night
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Moderate SW 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).