Mountain Weather Forecast

Weather Synopsis

The cold front that passed through the region today left post frontal showers, a well defined Puget Sound Convergence Zone, cooling temperatures, and partly to mostly cloudy skies in its wake. This pattern will continue overnight. You could encounter locally moderate to heavy precipitation under one of these showers or near the Puget Sound Convergence Zone. This feature should stay situated between Hwy 2 and I-90 through the overnight hours. With colder air flowing into the region, snow levels will continue to drop to near 1000-1500 ft. However, at these lower elevations, the warm ground will likely prevent much if any accumulation. Strong and gust WNW winds should develop overnight, particularly for areas east of the Cascade Crest and Mt Hood. As we near daybreak these winds should finally ease and turn more W to SW. 

Sunday will be a bit of a transition day between storm systems. While many locations will start the morning generally dry and with at least a little sunshine, clouds should quickly increase and thicken. This will herald the approach of the next round of precipitation. Even though you could encounter a few stray showers during the day, more constant light precipitation won't start to make its way into the mountains until late in the afternoon. Warm frontal moisture will spread over the Pacific Northwest Sunday evening. Slightly warmer air will cause temperatures to rise, but even still, most locations should continue to see snow. 

The front appears to stall overhead Monday maintaining a weak but constant flow of moisture into the region. This should continue to push showers up into the west slopes of the Cascades and Passes with only a few sprinkles making it further east. How much rain and snow we can expect on Monday depends on where the warm front stalls and for how long. Weather models disagree about the potential for significant precipitation during this time.