Weather
This forecast was created at 9:30 a.m. PST on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
A wet, early-season pattern returns to the Pacific Northwest, with a Friday night-to-Monday series of waves that pile up new snow across the Cascades and the Whistler area while snow levels fall through the weekend. The first push Friday night starts warm and windy, then colder air drops snow levels to roughly 3,000–4,000 feet by Sunday, improving snow quality and allowing mid-elevation terrain to accumulate. The strongest winds target the high Oregon Cascades on Saturday, while Washington and southwest British Columbia see more moderate ridge-top gusts. All listed resorts remain closed at this time (the earliest planned opening is Timberline on November 1), so this round primarily builds an early base and freshens high-elevation alpine zones. A cooler, showery Monday adds a little more snow as the pattern briefly eases Tuesday before additional systems loom toward mid-week and early November.
Friday night to Saturday brings the first, warmer surge with widespread precipitation and rising winds. Snow levels start high in Oregon, near 5,600–6,600 feet, Friday night at Timberline and Mt Bachelor, and a bit lower in Washington, near 4,000–5,000 feet, with Whistler beginning around 4,800 feet Friday and 3,500–3,400 feet Saturday. Snow-to-liquid ratios (SLR) run dense at first—generally 6–9:1—Friday night into Saturday for most areas, which points to heavier, wetter snow quality early. The heaviest period for most resorts arrives Saturday night, when short-duration bursts tack on several inches; an outlier is Mt Baker, which peaks Friday night before trending lighter during the day Saturday. Winds are a headline in Oregon on Saturday with strong ridge-top speeds at Timberline (gusts near or above 90 mph possible on exposed summits) and sustained strong winds at Bachelor as well; Washington and Whistler trend breezy to windy but less extreme on the peaks.
Saturday night to Sunday, temperatures drop, snow levels lower, and snow quality improves as the second wave swings through. By Sunday, snow levels settle to roughly 3,000–3,500 feet across Washington and 3,700–4,000 feet in Oregon, so mid-mountain elevation bands begin to stick more efficiently. SLRs improve into the 9–12:1 range for most resorts Saturday night through Sunday, so the snow becomes drier and more ski-friendly compared to the start of the event. Standouts for this colder window include the central and northern Washington Cascades, where favored passes and higher terrain can add a healthy refresh. Localized amounts on Sunday into early Monday around Stevens Pass and Mt. Baker commonly reach the mid-single to low-double digits, matching the colder profile. Winds ease somewhat from Saturday’s peak in Oregon but remain notable on the highest ridges.
Monday is showery and seasonably cold, then Tuesday looks much lighter ahead of another active stretch later next week. Lingering showers with snow levels near 3,300–4,000 feet favor the higher terrain for another modest top-off Monday, with SLRs still around 10–12:1 early in the day before trending denser Monday night. Many Washington mid-elevation zones and Oregon’s higher Cascades can pick up an additional 2″–4″ above about 4,000 feet on Monday in the more persistent bands. Oregon begins a slow warm-up late Monday night into Tuesday, and model guidance points to minimal new accumulation Tuesday, especially south of the Cascades. Looking beyond, the pattern favors more storm opportunities into the 6–10 day and 8–14 day windows for the Northwest with periodic troughing nearby; precipitation odds lean above normal with temperatures near normal to slightly above later in the period, which suggests additional snow chances in the high country and occasionally higher snow levels if ridging noses in between waves.
Resort Forecast Totals
- Timberline – 17″–26″ Fri night (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Mt Bachelor – 16″–25″ Fri night (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Mt Baker – 16″–24″ Fri night (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Crystal Mountain – 12″–19″ Fri night (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Stevens Pass – 11″–17″ Fri night (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Whistler – 8″–13″ Fri (10/24) – Tue (10/28)
- Snoqualmie Pass – 4″–6″ Sat night (10/25) – Mon night (10/27)
