The remnants from strong post-frontal WNW flow will stick around this morning producing cloudy conditions along with light scattered showers mainly along the west slopes of the Cascades and Mt. Hood along with strong ridgeline WNW winds in most areas. Winds and showers should decrease this morning as a ridge of high pressure begins to build offshore. Weak warm frontal moisture from a system well to our north will spread high clouds over much of the region later this morning. Occasional light snow is possible for the Olympics and northwest Cascades although new snow accumulations will be light.
The warm front will lift further north Saturday night, leading to a clearing trend for most areas except for the north Cascades where clouds will linger the longest. The upper ridge of high pressure will take control on Sunday with mostly sunny skies and mild freezing levels in the alpine. There will be a few caveats of course. Strong offshore flow will produce strong east winds in the Cascade Passes and moderate S-SE ridgeline winds in the Cascades west of the crest. Freezing levels will be higher west of the crest with a mild day expected on Sunday. Warmer air will punch above freezing for upper elevation slopes near the Cascade Passes and along the eastern slopes of the Cascades by Sunday afternoon, but expect much colder temperatures along lower slopes and valleys along with some low clouds.
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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Saturday
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with occasional light snow in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy after midnight.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with occasional light snow in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy late.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with occasional light snow in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy after midnight.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a mix of low and high clouds in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy after midnight.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with a chance of light snow in the afternoon. Moderate west winds at ridgeline and Pass level decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy after midnight. Strong east winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with a chance of light snow in the afternoon. Moderate to strong west winds at ridgeline and Pass level decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy after midnight. Strong east winds at Pass level.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then cloudy with a chance of light snow in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy in the evening becoming partly cloudy late.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Strong ridgeline winds slowly decreasing during the day.
Saturday
Night
Partly cloudy in the evening becoming mostly clear.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Strong ridgeline winds slowly decreasing during the day.
Saturday
Night
Partly cloudy in the evening becoming mostly clear.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers in the morning, then mostly cloudy with a mix of low and high clouds in the afternoon. Strong ridgeline winds slowly decreasing during the day.
Saturday
Night
Partly cloudy in the evening becoming mostly clear.
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).