MOUNTAIN WEATHER FORECAST

Time and Day: 1000 Tuesday

The Snapshot: Yikes! 46f at 1:00am this morning.  Today will be mostly dry with increasing clouds.  Very light rain changing to snow tonight with snow tomorrow.  Gusty winds with temperatures falling.

The Science:  A weakening cold front will move into the PNW Mountains this afternoon. This will finally bring freezing levels down below Pass level at least for the next few days.  Another cold front pushes through tomorrow which will create a few more inches of snow and drop temperatures even further.  Westerly winds are in favor of the development of the Puget Sound Convergence Zone.  There is not a ton of moisture associated with this system, but hopefully good orographics will help squeeze some snow out of it by the end of tomorrow.

4-7day Long Range:  Thursday will be cold and dry and then things become very interesting.  A warm air mass moving over the western waters on Friday pushes up against the developing cold air about to settle over the interior.  A frontal system brings moisture into the mix on Friday.  Snow or rain for Stevens?  That is the question of the day and unknown at this point.   As of now it appears to be snow hopefully that trend will continue.

 

Precipitation:   Water by 4am = lt .25  Snow equivalent = 1-3   Total inches of water by noon tomorrow = .25 - .5 Total inches of snow by noon tomorrow = 2-5   Trend and Timing:   Light rain will begin late this afternoon.  Rain will change to snow with the passing of the cold front.  The second cold front is expected to move through around noon tomorrow increasing the snow.  Snow will taper off tomorrow night with Thursday trending dry.

Base Temp and Freezing levels:                                        Low: 32    High: 24 Freezing level: 6000’       2000’   Trend and Timing:   Freezing levels will plummet tonight quickly reaching 4000’ early evening.  Temperatures will continue to fall with freezing levels reaching 2000’ or lower tomorrow morning.

Winds (mph)   Base: 5-15 W   Ridge Top: 10-20 W shifting NW     Trend and Timing:   Westerly winds will be strong, especially along the ridge tops.  Winds diminish and shift NW tomorrow.