Light warm frontal moisture will lift north across the area this morning. As generally light precipitation across the Olympics, central and northern Cascades becomes drippy by late morning and shuts off in the afternoon, freezing levels will rise to 4000-5000' across these areas under cloudy skies. A weak upper level disturbance will develop over northern Oregon this afternoon, renewing light precipitation as far north as Mt Rainier in the afternoon. This same weather feature will lift NE tonight, bringing periods of light snow near the Cascade crest and along the east slopes of the Cascades through Sunday morning which snow levels between 2000-3000'. Snow levels will remain a bit milder west of the Cascade crest Saturday night.
On Sunday, a broad upper level trough will move inland and over the region. We can expect showers to increase in the afternoon along with increasing WNW ridgeline winds. Showers will be most intense in the afternoon and near and west of the Cascade crest. Areas further east of the Cascade crest can expect some downsloping/drying that lead to a mix of sun and clouds and slightly warmer and drier conditions.
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
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Saturday
Light rain and snow through mid-day then cloudy. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Saturday
Light rain and snow through mid-day then cloudy. Moderate to strong ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Saturday
Light rain and snow through the morning then cloudy mid-day. Light rain and snow re-developing in the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Saturday
Light rain and snow through late morning then cloudy. Light to moderate W ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon and becoming SE. Variable and light Pass level winds becoming light E in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Light E Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Light rain and snow through late morning then cloudy. Moderate W ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon and becoming SE. Variable and light Pass level winds becoming light E in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow. Light to moderate E Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow this morning then cloudy. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow.
Saturday
Cloudy with periods of light rain and snow this morning then cloudy. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow.
Saturday
Cloudy. Light rain and snow developing this afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow.
Saturday
Cloudy. Light rain and snow developing this afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with light rain and snow, mainly in the evening.
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).