Mountain Weather

THIS IS NOT A REAL FORECAST. THIS IS USED FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY! NWAC NOR RACHEL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU NOT READING THIS FIRST LINE AND THINKING THIS IS REAL.

The atmospheric river of moisture is still going strong across Washington State, pumping moisture from the Hawaiian Islands, arcing over an offshore high pressure, and directly into Washington State on strong west winds. All NWAC stations have changed to rain except Camp Muir at 10,000 ft and Washington Pass. We still expect Washington Pass to change to rain during the evening hours as the warm, moist air continues to stream into the region.

Although the heaviest rainfall with this system occurred Tuesday night (insane rainfall rates of 0.4 to 0.67" of water per hour), the precipitation rates have only reduced slightly as the moisture feed aimed from Snoqualmie Pass to the Canadian Border. It should continue to focus most heavily on these areas through the evening hours before drifting southward overnight. A front drifting southward will bring cooler, drier air into northern Washington State and shift the moderate-to-heavy rainfall over the central and southern Cascades. Expect a dusting to an inch of fresh snow for the higher hills above 3500-5500 ft. A warming trend starts as very light precipitation associated with the frontal system lifting northward heads up towards Canada Thursday night and Friday as snow and freezing levels increase yet again.

THIS IS NOT A REAL FORECAST. THIS IS USED FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY! NWAC NOR RACHEL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU NOT READING THIS FIRST LINE AND THINKING THIS IS REAL.

A historic and long-duration rainfall event continues across our region as an atmospheric river brings very warm, moist air to Washington State. Seemingly defying the laws of physics, Washington Pass continues to pick up snowfall, but it is likely to change to rain at some point on Wednesday and at the very latest, Wednesday evening. Most other areas are measuring rainfall in inches from Mt Rainier northward, but also Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. The combination of strong WSW winds and the moist air leads to very strong vertical motion and a very effective squeegee of the moist air as it arrives on a strong jetstream. The strong winds also continue to a lot of moisture over onto the east slopes of the ranges. This combination is leading to major river flooding and has already led to some historic river flows. The most intense rainfall is likely to shift north today and focus from Snoqualmie Pass to Mt Baker. It could ease slightly at Snoqualmie Pass in the afternoon, but that remains to be seen.

The focus of the precipitation remains focused on the central and northern portions of Washington State in the evening, but shifts back slightly southward overnight with a cooling trend. Ridgelines around Mt Baker and Washington Pass should turn back to snow. The cooler, drying trend continues over northern Washington as moderate to heavy precipitation becomes light to moderate by the afternoon and may shut off in the northern part of the state. Most areas won't pick up more than an inch or two of snow with the cooling trend.