MOUNTAIN WEATHER FORECAST

0630 Wednesday:

The Snapshot:  Snow showers today, light snow with sun breaks tomorrow and Friday, snow over the weekend, dry and clear next week.

The Science:  The rain turned to snow around 10pm last night with 7” of new snow so far this morning.  Intermittent snow showers will linger along the Cascade Crest through tomorrow due to cool unstable NW flow.  Pressure gradients weaken tonight producing some partial clearing with light snow showers tomorrow and Friday.  

4-7day Long Range:  A low-pressure system tracking south along the coastal mountains of BC will bring some measurable snow to the Cascades over the weekend.  Let’s hope we get a good foot over the weekend because a large high-pressure system is developing along the entire western seaboard starting on Monday.  This will produce dry and clear weather possibly lasting into the New Year.   There is a cool airmass accompanying this pattern that will help preserve the snow pack.   

Precipitation ending at 4am: Today’s 24hr Water =.25-.5   Snow = 3-6 Tomorrow’s 24hr Water=,.25   Snow = 1-2 Trend and Timing: Snow showers will slowly diminish through the night. Tomorrow will be mostly dry with some very light snow possible.

24hr temperature ending at 4am tomorrow:  Low: 22   High: 26 Freezing level: -+2500’ Trends and Timing: Freezing levels will hold steady around 2500’ or lower through tomorrow.

24hr Winds (mph) ending at 4am tomorrow: Base: 0-10 WNW Ridge Top:  5-10 NW Trend and Timing: NW flow will continue through Friday.

JM