Brrrr! It's a cold morning across the forecast region with many of our weather stations reporting temperatures in the low teens and single digits. Washington Pass posted a frigid -5 F. Bundle up. With temperatures this cold even very light breezes will result in wind chill values well below 0F. Besides the cold temperatures, Wednesday looks like a beautiful day across the mountains. Mostly to partly sunny skies and light winds are on tap. While a few stray flurries may be seen in the southern Cascades and Mt Hood areas this morning, you should encounter dry weather.
By the afternoon high clouds will begin to spread from N to S across the region as our next weather system approaches. Light snow should arrive in the Olympics and North Cascades around midnight and then quickly spread further south. The timing of this storm is a bit tricky, if it arrives early, you could wake up to several inches of fresh snow, if it drags later, the bulk of the precipitation won't arrive until the daylight hours. Either way, look for light to moderate snow to spread from NW to SE, finally arriving at Mt Hood by mid to late-morning. Ridgetop winds will shift to the west and increase significantly especially for more wind-prone locations like the Olympics, Wenatchee Mts, and Mt Hood. While temperatures will warm slightly during this storm, snow levels should remain well below our mountain trailhead locations and result in 6-12" of light fluffy snow.
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 sunny and cold. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Light snow mainly after midnight. Winds becoming W and strong.
Wednesday
Mostly to partly sunny and cold. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate snow, mainly after midnight. Light to moderate SW winds.
Wednesday
Mostly to partly sunny and cold. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Light snow mainly after midnight. Light to moderate SW winds.
Wednesday
Partly cloudy in the morning, becoming mostly sunny. High clouds increasing late in the day.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy. Light to moderate W winds increasing overnight. Snow showers mainly near Mt Rainier.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny and cold with some low clouds in the morning. High clouds increasing in the afternoon. Light easterly winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with light snow after midnight. Light to moderate W winds.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny with some low clouds in the morning. High clouds increasing in the afternoon. Light easterly winds at Pass level.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with light snow after midnight. Moderate W winds increasing overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny and cold. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with isolated snow showers after midnight. Moderate to strong W winds increasing overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny and cold with some low clouds particularly near the crest. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy. Scattered snow showers mainly near the crest. Strong W winds increasing overnight.
Wednesday
Quickly becoming mostly sunny. Cold with low clouds in the valleys near the crest. High clouds increasing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy. Isolated snow showers possible especially further north. Strong W winds increasing overnight.
Wednesday
Quickly becoming mostly sunny with low clouds in the morning. Cold. High clouds increasing late in the day.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a few flurries possible just before day break. Strong W winds increasing significantly after midnight.
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).