Weather
Light weekend snow wraps up quickly, then the Pacific Northwest turns much warmer and more springlike next week. Most Washington and Oregon resorts should only squeeze out a couple inches through Sunday before the next moisture surge drives snow levels above most summits Monday through Thursday, limiting new snow and pushing conditions toward wet surfaces and rain at many lifts. The best chance for meaningful upper-mountain accumulation shifts north to Whistler, while a cooler, more wintry pattern may try to return late next weekend into early next week.
Confidence is highest from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon, when the models are clustered on tapering showers, low snow levels, and only light additional accumulation. Most Washington and Oregon resorts should finish with roughly 1"-2" in that stretch, with only minor upside in a few Washington spots if the snowier solutions verify. Snow quality is better in Washington and Whistler, where SLRs mostly run 10-16 for fairly dry recycled snow, while Oregon comes in denser at roughly 6-10. The bigger impact in Oregon is wind rather than snowfall, with exposed lifts around Timberline and Mt Bachelor seeing gusts in the 60-70 mph range at times on Saturday before easing back. By Sunday morning the guidance still agrees on a brief lull, so conditions improve as winds back off and snowfall shuts down rather than building into a larger second round.
From Sunday night through Thursday, the models converge strongly on the timing of the warm push and on rising snow levels, but they diverge on snowfall intensity once that milder air settles in. Snow levels climb to roughly 7,000-9,000 feet on Monday, then spend much of midweek around 8,000-10,000 feet or higher, which is a poor setup for most Washington and Oregon resorts. That leaves Mt Baker with the best chance for several inches early in the week before mixed or wet precipitation takes over, while the rest of the Washington Cascades look more like a few inches at best before conditions turn heavy and springlike. Timberline and Mt Bachelor are favored for little if any meaningful accumulation during this stretch despite the mild pattern, and most guidance keeps wind impacts secondary away from the most exposed ridgelines. Whistler is the clear exception because its upper mountain stays high enough to keep cashing in, with roughly 12"-24" possible by Thursday but with much wider spread among the models than on the rest of the pattern; any snow that falls there also gets denser with SLRs dropping from about 7-13 early to 6-8 later.
Friday into early next week is more speculative, with the models diverging on the timing, intensity, and southward reach of the next colder trough. The larger-scale signal still favors warmer than normal conditions overall, so Friday and Saturday should stay mostly springlike outside the highest northern terrain, but there is a reasonable chance snow levels drop enough for a more regional reset late Sunday into Monday. If that colder push comes together, many Washington and Oregon resorts could pick up something in the 3"-8" range, with a bit more possible in the north; if it slips or weakens, amounts stay much smaller and the best skiing remains concentrated near Whistler and Mt Baker. Confidence drops off quickly in this part of the forecast, so the warmer early-week pattern is still the better-established signal.
Resort Forecast Totals (Sat Mar 14 – Sun Mar 15)
- Snoqualmie Pass – 2"
- Crystal Mountain – 2"
- Timberline – 2"
- Mt Bachelor – 2"
- Stevens Pass – 1"-2"
- Mt Baker – 1"
- Whistler – 1"
