Weather Synopsis for Friday night through Sunday

Welcome to the 2024-25 NWAC winter forecasting season!

Friday night and Saturday morning will be a bit of the proverbial "calm before the storm," ahead of a very wet and windy weekend. A few light isolated showers continue to linger around the Cascades Friday afternoon. However, most places are experiencing significant sun breaks or even mostly clear skies. Overnight temperatures will drop further, but increasing clouds should help prevent it from getting significantly colder. By the morning, clouds begin to thicken and lower as our first storm system arrives around midday.

With cold temperatures in place, the storm should initially start as snow for most of the Olympics and the West-Slopes of the Cascades. However, a sharp warm front swings through in the late afternoon/early evening and sends temperatures rising. This will result in several notable changes in the storm. First, snow levels should climb well above pass and most trailhead elevations and peak between 5000 and 6500 ft in the early morning hours. Second, strong and gusty winds will develop along ridgelines and exposed areas. Lastly, more significant precipitation should spillover the Cascade Crest and bring heavier rain and snow to areas further east. 

Sunday morning should start with rain and high-elevation snow in the mountains. However, a trailing cold front will help snow levels lower throughout the day. Snow appears to return to the Passes sometime in the afternoon. Significant post-frontal showers should continue Sunday night and into Monday. The heaviest precipitation seems to focus on volcanoes and central Cascades. While all the weather models are confident in continued wet and cold weather, they disagree significantly about the amount of snow on Monday.