Friday will be a bit of a transition day for our mountains as we sit between fronts. A few isolated showers will continue for this morning with most of the activity focussed north of Hwy 2. During the day, low and mid level clouds should start to dissipate. For areas east of the crest, this will result in some sunshine. However, high clouds out ahead of our next storm should quickly flow into the region. While this could result in some filtered sunshine for many areas, as these clouds thicken, overcast to mostly cloudy skies should become the norm by the afternoon.
A cold front starts to approach the area overnight. This should shift the winds more S-SW. For locations near Hurricane Ridge, Mt Baker, and Mt Hood this will produce much stronger and potentially gusty winds. As the precipitation takes aim at the Pacific Northwest, it appears to hang up near the Canadian border and allow most locations to stay dry until after midnight.
By Saturday morning, the cold front will be ready to swing quickly across the Cascades. Expect wind speeds and precipitation to increase during the morning hours out ahead of the front. This will include light to moderate showers spilling over the mountains to locations further east. While the Passes may initially start as snow, thanks to weak easterly flow, they should quickly switch rain. As the front passes overhead, winds should turn more NW and allow colder air to pour into the region and send snow levels dropping. This should bring snow back below pass levels by 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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Friday
Mostly cloudy with flurries possible. SSW winds becoming moderate in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with showers developing overnight. Moderate SSW winds decreasing slightly.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Moderate S winds increasing slightly overnight.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow. Moderate to strong S winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Light to moderate SW winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow developing overnight. Light to moderate SSW winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy some filtered sunshine mid day. Light to moderate WSW winds decreasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow showers starting after midnight. Light to moderate SW winds.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a few sprinkles in the morning and filtered sun in the afternoon. Light W winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow showers mainly after midnight. Light easterly flow.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with a few sprinkles in the morning and filtered sunshine possible in the afternoon. Light WSW winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow showers mainly after midnight. Light easterly flow developing.
Friday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a few flurries possible in the morning. Light to moderate SW winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with isolated showers possible. Light winds becoming SSE.
Friday
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Light to moderate WSW winds decreasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Cloudy. SSW winds becoming moderate.
Friday
Partly to mostly cloudy with high clouds. Light to moderate WSW winds.
Friday
Night
Cloudy. Light to moderate SW winds decreasing.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with high clouds increasing. A few flurries possible in the morning. Moderate to strong WSW winds. Winds could be gust, especially in the alpine.
Friday
Night
Cloudy with rain and snow mainly after midnight. Moderate to strong SW winds with stronger gusts.
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).