A cold upper low continues to deliver chilly and below normal temperatures for the last full weekend in March. Mountain temperatures this morning are in the teens and low 20s. A broad upper low centered somwhere around the WA/OR border will keep clouds and showers spinning in a counter-clockwise circulation today. The remnants of last night's convergence zone will continue to pepper the West North and West Central with scattered snow showers. The Olympics will likely see more shower activity Saturday afternoon. The other area of more focused showers is near Mt Hood where showers are rotating inland in westerly flow. For just about everyone else, we can expect a general build-up of clouds and isolated to scattered snow showers today as daytime heating taps into an unstable cold air mass. Sunbreaks will be hard to pinpoint in this pattern - if you get one, enjoy it before it's gone!
Scattered snow showers will slowly wane Saturday night as snow levels and temperatures plummet once again. On Sunday, we should generally see a bit more sunshine in the late morning and mid-day before isolated showers and clouds build-up in the afternoon. Afternoon temperatures and snow levels will be slightly warmer on Sunday.
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
Mostly cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light to occasionally moderate snow showers in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate snow showers.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate snow showers.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers in the afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate W-NW Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Light to moderate W-NW Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers in the afternoon. Light to moderate W-NW Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds. Light to moderate W-NW Pass level and ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers near the Cascade crest in the afternoon. More sunbreaks further east of the crest in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers near the Cascade crest in the afternoon. More sunbreaks further east of the crest in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with isolated light snow showers this morning, then scattered light snow showers near the Cascade crest in the afternoon. More sunbreaks further east of the crest in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with scattered light to occasionally moderate snow showers. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy with scattered light snow showers tapering off overnight. Moderate ridgeline winds.
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).