The high pressure delivers one final day of atypically warm, dry weather as it shifts east over the Intermountain West on Saturday. Expect a sunny and mild start to the day. 5000 ft temperatures vary from the mid-40s to the upper 20s, with the coldest temperatures in deep valley locations east of the Cascades. These low-level inversions and Puget Sound lowland fog should generally mix out by mid-morning as 5000 ft temperatures rise into the 50s in most areas. High and mid-level clouds will increase during the morning hours for the Olympics and the afternoon for the rest of the Cascades ahead of an elongated trough drifting toward the coastline. This feature will keep skies mostly cloudy overnight.
On Sunday, an upper low ejecting from the trough moves southward off the Oregon coastline. It will bring some light rain and snow showers to the Olympics and west slopes of the Cascades as light WNW ridgeline winds develop in the wake of the upper low. Mt Hood has the best chance of picking up 1" of snow with lesser amounts in other areas. Snow levels should be in the 4500-5000 ft range. Expect drier weather east of the Cascade Crest.
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
Filtered sunshine in the morning with obscured skies in the afternoon as high clouds thicken. Light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Cloudy with a slight chance of rain or snow by morning.
Saturday
Full sunshine through mid-morning, then high clouds increase through the afternoon. Moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Decreasing light to moderate ridgeline winds.
Saturday
Full sunshine through mid-morning, then high clouds increase through the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Saturday
Full sunshine through mid-morning, then high clouds increase through the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Saturday
Full sunshine through mid-morning, then high clouds increase through the afternoon. Light ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Light ridgeline winds. Light E wind at the Pass by late evening.
Saturday
Full sunshine through mid-morning, then high clouds increase through the afternoon. Light to moderate ridgeline and E wind at the Pass.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy. Light ridgeline winds. Light E wind at the Pass by late evening.
Saturday
Full sun in the morning with low-level inversions mixing out. Increasing high clouds in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Saturday
Full sun in the morning with low-level inversions mixing out. Increasing high clouds in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Saturday
Full sun in the morning, then increasing high clouds in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy.
Saturday
Full sun in the morning, then increasing high clouds in the afternoon. Decreasing light to 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).