Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

As of early Friday afternoon, northern areas of the forecast area have largely dried out in the late December sun while further south, low clouds in NW flow have hung tough along with light snow showers. The cold upper trough that has been a fixture over the West Coast for much of the last week will finally start to shift east overnight.  High to mid-clouds from an advancing Pacific frontal system in the Gulf of Alaska will stream over the area later tonight, thinning out over the southern Washington Cascades and Mt Hood.  Light snow along the southern edge of the warm front will develop over the Olympics and northwest Cascades Saturday afternoon, although the central Cascades may see some light flurries. For areas near and west of the Cascade crest and the Olympics and Mt Hood, temperatures will moderate in the upper teens and 20s, while east of the crest, temperatures will remain quite chilly. The frontal boundary may shift back to the north Saturday night as the parent low pressure system digs south along the B.C. coastline, keeping light precipitation aimed at the same areas.

The frontal system will finally push southwards during the Sunday with heavy snow developing for the Olympics and northwest Cascades. While light to moderate snow will develop in other areas on Sunday, look for strong to extreme southerly winds for the Olympics and west slopes of the Cascades before the heaviest precipitation arrives. Snow levels will slowly rise on Sunday along the west slopes of the Cascades, Olympics and Mt. Hood. Strong offshore gradients will drive very cold air through the Cascade Passes in the form of strong east winds and there may be areas of freezing rain west of the Cascade Passes Sunday afternoon or night. It looks to be an exciting start to 2022 - Happy New Year from the team at NWAC!