We rang in 2025 with a weak frontal system that passed through last night, dropping 3-5" of snow for the southern volcanoes and lighter amounts further north and east. Today, we'll start off the New Year with lingering snow showers this morning, focused mainly along the west slopes of the Cascades, and with more moderate showers between the Mtn Loop and I-90 corridor where another few inches of snow is possible. The post-frontal westerly winds don't look particularly fierce, except closer down near Mt Hood this morning. The north Cascades and along the east slopes of the Cascades away from low clouds will see a mix of sun and clouds today. Cloudier conditions will persist along the west central zones were the aforementioned showers linger longest. Any clearing further south will be short lived as another weak warm frontal feature will lift over Oregon mid-day and into southern WA this afternoon, spreading high clouds over the region.
Light warm frontal precipitation will lift north from the Mt Hood area into the southern WA Cascades overnight, with another round of light snow perhaps as far north as I-90. In this fast moving pattern, we'll see another weather feature move into the area Thursday for more widespread precipitation. More moderate precipitation is likely along the southern periphery, namely the Mt Hood area but confidence is still low. Cool east winds will keep most trailheads as snow on Thursday in the WA Cascades, but we'll start to see snow levels creep up particularly for the Olympics, Mt Hood area, and for portions of the West South zone including Mt St Helens.
Happy New Year from NWAC!
Weather Forecast
Olympics
West North
West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
Use dropdown to select your zone
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of showers this morning. Increasing high clouds in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a high overcast.
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of showers this morning, then partly sunny. Increasing high clouds late in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a high overcast.
Wednesday
Cloudy in the morning with light to occasionally moderate snow showers, then mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow showers in the afternoon. Light to occasionally moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a high overcast.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy in the morning with scattered light snow showers, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline winds easing in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy in the evening, then light snow developing overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy in the morning with scattered light snow showers, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Light E Pass level winds and S-SW ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy in the evening, with a chance of light after midnight.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy in the morning with scattered light snow showers, then mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Light E Pass level winds and SW-S ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy in the evening, then light snow developing overnight.
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers this morning, then partly sunny. Increasing high clouds late in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a high overcast.
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers this morning, then partly sunny. Increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy with a high overcast, then chance of light snow after midnight.
Wednesday
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers this morning, then partly sunny. Increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Periods of moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Cloudy in the evening, then light snow developing overnight.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with a scattered snow showers this morning, then mostly cloudy in the afternoon with increasing high clouds. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Wednesday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow developing. Moderate to strong 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).