Snow Totals:

A storm on Sunday-Monday primarily impacted Oregon and Southwest/South Central Washington with little to no snow for Northern Washington and the Inland Northwest.

Here are the latest 48-hour snow totals as of Tuesday AM:

• 8" - Mt. Bachelor
• 8" - Mission Ridge
• 7" - White Pass
• 5" - Timberline
• 5" - Mt. Hood Meadows
• 5" - Mt. Ashland
• 4" - Hoodoo
• 3" - Alpental
• 2" - White Pass
• 1" - Stevens Pass
• 1" - Mt. Hood Skibowl

Forecast for Tuesday to Wednesday:

We will head back into a drier pattern with decreasing clouds, increasing, and only a slight chance of flurries/sprinkles, mainly on Tuesday morning and late Wednesday afternoon. Highs at mid-mountain elevations will range from the low 30s to upper 30s or even low 40s depending on cloud cover.

Forecast for Wednesday Night to Friday Night:

A stronger storm will impact the entire region during this period as a trough of low pressure from the Gulf of Alaska tracks from west/northwest to east/southeast along or just south of the WA/OR border with a potent cold front arriving at the leading edge.

Winds aloft will be out of the west/southwest on Thursday before turning west/northwest on Friday. All regions will see snow from this storm, though Oregon looks favored for the deepest totals. Also, moisture will be limited across Central and Eastern Washington due to downsloping winds east of the Cascades crest. 

Western Washington:

Snow will begin late Wednesday night with periods of off-and-on snow continuing from Thursday morning through Friday evening, tapering off to lighter snow showers late Friday night. A convergence zone could lead to locally heavier snowfall around Snoqualmie Pass on Friday afternoon/Friday night, however. 

A cold front will be arriving at the leading edge of this storm, so while a brief period of rain showers couldn't be ruled out near or just above ski areas bases, snow levels will quickly fall below base areas as heavier precipitation begins (only exception is Snoqualmie, where rain could mix in near the base on Thursday). Further cooling can also be expected Thursday night/Friday as another cold front moves through.

Snow levels will range from 2,500-3,500 feet during the day on Thursday before falling to 500-1,000 feet on Thursday night/Friday morning. Snow levels will range from 1,000-2,000 feet on Friday afternoon and 500-1,000 feet on Friday night.

Snow totals from Wednesday night through Saturday morning will range from 6-14 inches across most ski resorts in the Cascades, while the upper half of Alpental will likely end up with 10-18 inches due to convergence zone snowfall on Friday PM.

Hurricane Ridge will pick up 3-6 inches of snow, while Mission Ridge will be shadowed by the Cascades and will only pick up a trace to 2 inches.

Winds will be moderate but not crazy strong during this cycle with the highest wind gusts expected on Thursday afternoon.

Skiing conditions will be best on Friday (all-day) and again on Saturday morning.

Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho:

Snow showers will begin on Thursday morning across SE Washington and midday to early afternoon for the rest of the Inland Northwest with periods of off-and-on snow showers continuing from Thursday evening through Friday evening, tapering off to light snow showers late Friday night. 

A cold front will be arriving at the leading edge of this storm, dropping snow levels briefly though the stronger late March sun will allow snow levels to rise to 3,500-4,000 feet behind the front on Thursday afternoon (just below the bases of most ski areas).

Further cooling is then expected from Thursday night through Friday afternoon and Friday night with snow levels generally ranging from the lower valley bottoms to 2,000 feet.

Snow totals from Thursday morning through Saturday morning will range from 6-12 inches at Bluewood, 4-8 inches at Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain, 3-6 inches at Schweitzer, and 1-4 inches at 49º North and Mt. Spokane.

Winds will be moderate but not crazy strong during this cycle with the highest wind gusts expected on Friday afternoon. I also expect the best skiing conditions on Friday (all-day) with some leftovers on Saturday morning. Keep in mind, we are late enough in the year that conditions will be variable with some crust layers being felt underneath the new snow.

Oregon:

Snow will begin on Wednesday night with periods of off-and-on snow continuing from Thursday morning through Friday evening, tapering off to lighter snow showers late Friday night. 

A cold front will be arriving at the leading edge of this storm, so while a brief period of rain showers couldn't be ruled out near or just above ski areas bases, snow levels will quickly fall below base areas as heavier precipitation begins. Further cooling can also be expected from Thursday afternoon on as another cold front moves through.

Snow levels will range from 2,500-3,500 feet during the day on Thursday before falling to 500-1,000 feet on Thursday night/Friday morning. Snow levels will range from 500-1,500 feet on Friday and Friday night.

Snow totals from Wednesday night through Saturday morning will range from 12-28 inches from the Hood resorts southward to Bachelor and Willamette Pass. Further south and east, totals will be comparatively lighter, ranging from 6-14 inches at Mt. Ashland and Anthony Lakes. 

Winds will become strong on Thursday afternoon/evening with a secondary peak expected on Friday afternoon, though not as strong compared to Thursday. 

Skiing conditions will be deepest on Friday (all-day) while Saturday morning will offer plenty of leftovers along with lighter winds. 

An unsettled pattern with good skiing conditions will remain in place this weekend with lingering moisture and instability resulting in moderate snow showers and continued low snow levels across both the Cascades and the Inland Northwest on Saturday. 

Heading into early next week (Sunday, March 26 to Tuesday, March 28) a storm out in the Pacific is projected to move from north to south but hang pretty far away from the West Coast before eventually making landfall in California.

The PNW will see residual moisture on the periphery of the storm track in this pattern with occasional light snow showers possible. Temperatures and snow levels will gradually rise but will still remain low for this late in the year.

The only outlier solution during the March 26th-28th period is the Canadian Model, which is projecting the storm out in the Pacific to remain closer to the coast and make landfall in the PNW rather than California. This is an outlier solution compared to what the European and American GFS Models are projecting, but it's worth keeping an eye on as it would result in a vastly different weather pattern (i.e. more snow) during the 26th-28th timeframe.

Looking further out, a generally active pattern is expected over the last couple of days of March and into the beginning of April with frequent snow chances along with colder-than-average temperatures.

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Thursday (March 23).

ALAN SMITH