A persistent flat high-pressure ridge will continue to keep us generally warm and dry through the weekend. Weather stations report temperatures near or above freezing this morning with inversions prevalent in the Passes and deeper mountain valleys. There's even some patchy fog near Snoqualmie Pass and a few locations east of the Crest. As we move into the morning, light winds and filtered sunshine should help conditions continue to dry out and warm up. In the northern half of the area, cloudy skies will hang on until sun breaks become more common in the afternoon. Further south, high thin overcast skies and a few passing bands of thicker clouds should result in a mostly sunny and warm day.
Overnight, partly to mostly clear skies across the region should allow temperature inversions to easily form in most mountain valleys and passes. After a chilly start at some trailheads, partly to mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures should result in a rather nice day in the mountains. An approaching storm will attempt to shove the protecting ridge out of the way starting late Sunday. However, the high-pressure is resilient and only a few clouds will make it into the northern portion of the region by later in the afternoon.
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
High overcast with filtered sunshine.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear. Warming temperatures.
Saturday
A few isolated showers in the morning. Overcast becoming scattered with significant sun breaks possible Light to moderate W winds decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Partly to mostly clear. Temperature inversions possible.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy in the morning. Becoming mostly sunny with filtered sunshine.
Saturday
Night
Moslty clear with temperatures inversions possible. Warming overnight.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with high thin overcast clouds and passing bands of thicker clouds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming.
Saturday
Partly cloudy in the morning becoming sunny. High-thin clouds with filtered sunshine in the afternoon. Light to moderate W ridgetop winds decreasing slightly.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming. Light easterly flow developing overnight.
Saturday
Patchy fog in the morning. Becoming mostly sunny with filtered sunshine. Light to moderate W ridgetop winds decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming. Light easterly flow developing overnight.
Saturday
Partly to mostly cloudy in the morning. Becoming mostly sunny with high thin clouds in the afternoon. Light to moderate W winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming. Light to moderate W winds decreasing.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with high thin clouds and passing bands of thicker clouds. Moderate W winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming. Light to moderate WNW winds.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with some high thin clouds. Light to moderate W winds decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly clear with temperature inversions forming.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with some high thin clouds. Light to moderate W winds decreasing in the 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).