We're in for a more active weather pattern following a stretch of a few dry days. A frontal system will sweep from the SW to the NE across the area this afternoon, bringing a burst of more moderate precipitation in the later part of the day. Precipitation will move into the Olympics this morning and then inland to the Cascades this afternoon. Snow levels will start quite high west of the Cascade crest but will come crashing down to 3000-4000' once precipitation starts. This system will also feature a burst of strong pre-frontal S-SE winds later this morning followed by strong W-SW winds this afternoon through this evening.
Post-frontal showers in SW flow will really focus on the northwest Cascades and the Mt Baker area this evening with some moderate to heavy precipitation. This will be short-lived however as warm frontal precipitation lifts north across the region Friday night through Saturday morning. While that feature lifts north, it looks increasingly likely another disturbance in southerly flow aloft will begin to rotate up from the south Saturday afternoon, affecting the Mt Hood area and the south Washington Cascades. This quick switch to southerly flow will prevent snow levels from cooling much Friday night and we'll start to see temperatures and snow levels creep up once again during the day Saturday.
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
Light rain and snow developing in the morning and becoming moderate mid-day. Strong to extreme winds in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow showers becoming periods of light rain or snow after midnight. Strong winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing late morning or mid-day and becoming moderate in the afternoon. Strong to extreme winds in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day and becoming light to moderate in the afternoon. Strong winds in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day and becoming light to moderate in the afternoon. Moderate to strong winds.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day and becoming light to moderate in the afternoon. Light to moderate SE winds at Pass level and ridgeline in the morning becoming moderate W-SW in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong W winds at Pass level and ridgeline easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day and becoming light to moderate in the afternoon. Moderate SE winds at Pass level and ridgeline in the morning becoming moderate W-SW in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong W winds at Pass level and ridgeline easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day or early afternoon. Ridgeline winds increasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong ridgeline winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day or early afternoon. Ridgeline winds increasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong ridgeline winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day or early afternoon. Ridgeline winds increasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong ridgeline winds easing overnight.
Friday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow developing mid-day or early afternoon. Ridgeline winds increasing in the afternoon.
Friday
Night
Light to occasionally moderate rain and snow showers becoming light rain or snow after midnight. Strong ridgeline winds easing overnight.
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).