100 PM PST SAT DEC 8 2007 WEATHER SYNOPSIS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY An upper ridge over the northeast Pacific Ocean should be the main influence on Northwest weather the next few days. The ridge should cause dry, cool northwest flow aloft over the Olympics and Cascades on Saturday. Some northeast winds should be seen in places at crest level in the Cascades. This should bring sunny weather with cool temperatures. Some clouds from yesterdays weather system to the south were still moving out of the Mt Hood area Saturday morning. Mostly clear weather should be seen Saturday night. A very weak front in the northwest flow aloft should make its way over the ridge and over the Northwest on Sunday. This should spread some clouds to the Olympics and Cascades on Sunday morning. Some light snow showers should be seen mainly in the Olympics and north Cascades Sunday midday and afternoon. But precipitation amounts should be very light. Clouds should decrease again following this system Sunday night. WEATHER FORECAST FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY * OLYMPICS- Saturday: Sunny. Saturday night: Mostly clear. Sunday morning: Increasing clouds. Sunday afternoon and evening: Light snow showers. Sunday night: Decreasing clouds. * WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR AND WEST OF THE CREST-CASCADE PASSES INCLUDING STEVENS, SNOQUALMIE, WHITE PASSES- Saturday: Sunny. Saturday night: Mostly clear. Sunday morning: Increasing clouds. Sunday afternoon and evening: Light snow showers mainly north and central part. Sunday night: Decreasing clouds. * EAST SLOPES WASHINGTON CASCADES- Saturday: Sunny. Saturday night: Mostly clear. Sunday morning: Increasing clouds. Sunday afternoon and evening: Light snow showers near the crest north and central part. Sunday night: Decreasing clouds. * MT HOOD AREA- Saturday: Decreasing clouds becoming sunny. Saturday night: Mostly clear. Sunday morning: Increasing clouds. Sunday afternoon and evening: Chance of light snow showers. Sunday night: Decreasing clouds. FREEZING LEVELS-CASCADE MTNS Near sea level N and C 1000 ft S Sat Near sea level N and C, 2000 ft S Sat night SNOW LEVELS Near sea level N and C, 2000 ft S Sun and Sun night FREEZING LEVELS-OLYMPIC MTNS Near sea level Sat 2000 ft Sat night SNOW LEVELS 2000 ft Sun and Sun night Cascade Snow/Freezing Levels refer to the northern Washington Cascades (N) through Mt Hood area (S). Central Washington Cascade snow levels (typically near Snoqualmie Pass) are normally midway between indicated N and S levels. Note that surface snow/freezing levels are common near the passes during easterly pass flow and may result in multiple snow/freezing levels. 24 HOUR FORECAST OF PRECIPITATION IN INCHES OF WATER EQUIVALENT ENDING AT 4AM SUN MON * HURRICANE RIDGE 0 LT .25 * MT BAKER 0 LT .25 * WASHINGTON PASS 0 LT .25 * STEVENS PASS 0 LT .25 * SNOQUALMIE PASS 0 LT .25 * MISSION RIDGE 0 0 * CRYSTAL MTN 0 LT .10 * PARADISE 0 LT .10 * WHITE PASS 0 LT .10 * MT HOOD 0 LT .10 WINDS IN MILES PER HOUR (MPH) * CASCADE PASS LEVEL WINDS Light, variable Sat and Sun * FREE WINDS AT 5000 FT NE 10-20 Sat NE 5-15 Sat night NW 5-15 Sun NW 10-20 Sun night * FREE WINDS AT 9000 FT NE 15-25 Sat N-NE 15-25 Sat night NW 15-25 Sun NW 20-30 Sun night EXTENDED WEATHER SYNOPSIS FOR MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY The upper ridge should rebuild over the Northwest coastal waters on Monday. This should cause another day of fair cool weather in the Olympics and Cascades. A weak front is indicated to move over the ridge and the Northwest on Tuesday. This system is currently indicated to be weaker than in previous model runs. This should cause increasing clouds Tuesday morning and light snow Tuesday midday and afternoon. This should be followed by light snow showers Tuesday night. The ridge should be flatter on Wednesday with an increasing west to northwest flow over the Northwest. Current model runs indicate that there will be enough moisture in this flow to maintain some light snow showers in the Olympics and Cascades mainly near and west of the crest. EXTENDED FORECAST FOR MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY Monday: Partly or mostly sunny. Monday night: Partly or mostly clear. Tuesday morning: Increasing clouds. Tuesday afternoon and night: Increasing light snow changing to light snow showers. Wednesday and Wednesday night: Cloudy with light snow showers mainly near and west of the crest. * SNOW LEVELS Near sea level N, 1-3000 ft Olys and S Mon 1-2000 ft N, 3-5000 ft Olys and S Tue Near sea level N, 1-3000 ft Olys and S Wed