Weather
The PNW snow forecast brings a cool, showery spring pattern through early Sunday, with the best mountain snow focused on Timberline and Mt. Baker while most other areas see lighter refresh totals. Confidence is strongest from Wednesday afternoon, May 13, through early Sunday, May 17, when individual model guidance lines up on repeated weak systems, lowering snow levels, and modest upper-elevation snowfall. Timberline has the strongest open lift-served signal with 6-9 inches, while Mount Baker is closed but still stands out for mountain snowfall with 5-8 inches.
The ongoing shower cycle over the Oregon Cascades continues Wednesday afternoon before fading Wednesday night into Thursday. Historical context at Timberline and Mt. Bachelor shows this first round already in progress, so the near-term pattern is a continuation rather than a fresh start. Individual model guidance converges on weakening precipitation and relatively high snow levels Wednesday and Thursday, with snow mostly confined to upper elevations and SLRs around 4 to 8 during the wettest hours, which means dense to very dense spring snow. Winds are the bigger ski impact around Mt. Hood, where exposed gusts near 50 to 60 mph can rough up surfaces and limit the quality of any new snow.
The main refresh arrives late Friday into Saturday as a colder shortwave crosses the Cascades. Individual models converge on the Friday night to Saturday timing and on snow levels dropping near 3,500 feet to 4,500 feet, but they still diverge on shower intensity, especially from central Washington southward. The best open-resort skiing signal is at Timberline, where the colder Saturday phase should stack most of the total, while Whistler and Crystal Mountain look lighter. SLRs improve into the 8 to 11 range during the colder showers, so snow quality trends from dense toward moderate, but this is still a spring refresh rather than a deep powder cycle.
Sunday through Tuesday turns drier and milder as ridging builds over the northeast Pacific. Individual models converge on the break for Sunday and Monday, then begin to diverge by Tuesday night and especially late next week. The larger-scale signal favors warmer and drier conditions for the Pacific Northwest from May 19 through May 23, with near-normal precipitation chances later in the May 21 through May 27 period. One colder and wetter late-week solution tries to bring light mountain snow around Friday, May 22, through Sunday, May 24, but most guidance keeps that period dry or too weak, so any late snow is speculative and likely only a few inches where it happens.
PNW Snow Forecast Resort Totals (Wed May 13 – Sun May 17)
- Timberline – 6-9 inches
- Mt. Baker – 5-8 inches
- Stevens Pass – 3-5 inches
- Whistler – 2 inches
- Mt. Bachelor – 1-2 inches
- Snoqualmie Pass – 1-2 inches
- Crystal Mountain – 1 inches
