Heavy Snow in Washington, March 10 to 14, 2026

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
303 PM PDT Tue Mar 10 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Long-duration atmospheric river event will bring heavy snow to
  the WA Cascades tonight-Friday, and high winds to the interior
  Northwest late tomorrow.

- As much as 1-3 feet of snow tonight to tomorrow night in the
  WA Cascades with a lull in winter weather at pass-level
  Wednesday afternoon-Wednesday night before resuming Thursday.

- Strong winds over 50 mph anticipated Wednesday evening to
  Thursday morning across the lower elevations and foothills.

- OR Cascades and northern Blues will see moderate to locally
  heavy snow of 6 inches and more rest of today through
  tomorrow.

- Increased confidence in a warming trend next week with highs
  as much as 10 to 20 degrees above average by Tuesday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...An active 72-hrs sensible weather-wise as an long
duration atmospheric river event sets up. Latest water vapor
imagery shows broad moisture curving anticyclonic in the
eastern North Pacific offshore CA and OR that will be
reinforced with the AR making landfall tonight. Latest ensemble
guidance shows excellent agreement in its timing and direction
with probability of AR conditions greater than 250 kg/ms
penetrating inland over 90% tonight with high confidence in at
least a 48-hr window of this IVT being realized into early
Friday. Meantime, near zonal orientation expected with its axis
and is roughly aligned with the OR/WA border Wednesday-Friday.

Late tonight into tomorrow, the primary mid-level shortwave will
lead to a developing surface low with its attendant warm front
crossing into the Lower Columbia Basin mid-late afternoon
tomorrow. This low and its frontal region will coincide with a
strong surge of IVT aimed at the WA Cascades that will also
occur in tandem with strong winds aloft spilling east and
rising snow levels. With this IVT surge, guidance supports high
chance (>80%) of IVT > 500 kg/ms making landfall centered
around tomorrow afternoon. Also, strong 850 mb winds of 50 kts
will spread into the area east of the Cascades after 00Z Wed/5
pm Thu.

Heavy snow is expected to pick up this afternoon in the WA
Cascades but will then be followed by a lull. Snow is expected
to ease early afternoon Wednesday to 2 am Thursday as changeover
to a mix or rain occurs stemming from snow levels rising above
4,500 ft during the day before falling below 3,000 ft by 5 am.
After the initial window of heavy snow at pass-level in the WA
Cascades, concerns will pick up again Thursday and continue
into early Friday morning. Of which, Snoqualmie Pass has a
80-90% chance of 12 inches or more tonight-tomorrow with another
chance for 1-2 foot Thursday morning-early Friday morning. The
high confidence in heavy snow in the WA Cascades stems in part
from the orientation of the AR and also the strong synoptic
forcing. Meantime, sufficient AR penetration inland will
support moderate snow inland with the northeast Blues chance of
8 inches or more around 80% late tonight through late tomorrow
before rising snow levels limit snow. Southward, the OR
Cascades will see locally moderate snow at the upper slopes,
including Santiam pass. However, lower confidence in snow
impacts stemming from the warmer environment there. Overall, a
strong signal is in place with EPS ensemble members in agreement
on high QPF and snowfall with extreme forecast index values
approaching and exceeding 0.9 Wednesday night-Thursday.
Further, the high-end potential is quite high for QPF and snow
with a shift of tails greater than 2 for QPF Wednesday night-
Thursday, and again for QPF Thursday night-Friday.

While winds pick up tomorrow afternoon onward, the warm
environment and high snow levels will promote wet, dense snow
that will limit blowing snow concerns. As such, limited blow
snow is expected along the upper slopes of the eastern WA
Cascades with the initial round. This is further supported when
looking at HREF and West-WRF joint probabilities. Elsewhere,
these winds will translate eastward with high potential to mix
down to the surface late tomorrow afternoon. The windiest
period is forecast 8 pm to 2 am, and the highest winds expected
over exposed ridges and summits. Confidence further bolstered by
Extreme Forecast Index of 0.7-0.9 Wednesday night-Thursday
across south central to eastern WA.

Current thinking is the northern Blues has some potential for
another winter headline with that area having a greater lull in
winter weather Thursday-early Friday. Meantime, areas could see
snow linger as the AR drifts south and weakens over time late
Friday-Saturday. Of which, snowfall amounts appear not as
impactful Friday night-Saturday.

This weekend and beyond, ensemble guidance in good agreement
with a building upper-level ridge over the West Coast. Latest
EPS forecast show 500 mb mean heights exceeding the 90th
percentile offshore coast of CA that will then shift Monday with
the ridge axis extending then over the northwest. This will
start a warming trend with highs forecast 5 to 15 degrees above
normal Monday rising to 10 to 20 degrees above normal Tuesday
(upper 60s to lower 70s in the lower elevations.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/...Mostly VFR
conditions to prevail through the period. Light rain will
develop at site DLS after 00Z, with CIGs potentially lowering to
MVFR after 03Z-06Z. Rain will also be possible at
KALW/KPDT/KRDM/KBDN after 05Z, KYKM after 12Z and KPSC after
15Z, Have indicated the likeliest times using PROB30. Winds will
increase to 12-17kts with gusts 20-25kts after 20Z. Winds will
weaken at sites DLS/YKM to less than 10kts this evening, with
winds continuing at 10kts to 15kts at sites PDT/RDM/BDN/ALW/PSC
through 18Z tomorrow. Gusts to around 21kts will persist at site
BDN after 04Z. Perry/83

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
PDT  35  56  45  56 /  30  50  50  70
ALW  37  55  46  55 /  50  70  70  80
PSC  37  59  47  60 /  10  30  30  40
YKM  29  55  40  55 /  40  70  80  60
HRI  37  59  47  59 /  20  30  30  50
ELN  27  46  36  46 /  40  80  80  70
RDM  29  54  40  55 /  20  30  30  40
LGD  29  48  42  50 /  60  80  80  90
GCD  28  53  43  55 /  20  40  20  60
DLS  37  54  45  55 /  80  80  90  80

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...High Wind Warning from 8 PM Wednesday to 11 AM PDT Thursday
     for WAZ026-028-029-521.
     Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 8 PM PDT
     Wednesday for WAZ030.
     Winter Storm Warning from 5 PM this afternoon to 5 AM PDT
     Friday for WAZ522.
OR...High Wind Warning from 8 PM Wednesday to 11 AM PDT Thursday
     for ORZ044-507-508-510.
     Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM PDT Wednesday for ORZ509.

&&

DISCUSSION...80
AVIATION...83